India slams attack on Indian-flagged ship near Oman coast, says crew is safe

India has slammed the attack on an Indian-flagged ship near the coast of Oman on May 13, saying that targeting of civilians and commercial ships is “unacceptable”.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on May 14 said, “The attack on an Indian-flagged ship off the coast of Oman yesterday is unacceptable and we deplore the fact that commercial shipping and civilian mariners continue to be targeted.”

“All Indian crew on board are safe and we thank the Omani authorities for rescuing them,” he added.
Jaiswal further reiterated India’s position that targeting commercial shipping and endangering innocent civilian crew members, or otherwise impeding freedom of navigation and commerce, “should be avoided”.

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The latest attacks follow earlier attacks in May when three Indian nationals were injured in an alleged Iranian attack on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) oil facility in Fujairah.

The Indian government had called those attacks as “unacceptable” too and had urged that civilians should not be targeted during the ongoing West Asia crisis.