Indian outrage over US killing of sailors mounts as leaders attend G7 summit

Fury has continued to mount in India over US refusal to apologise for the deaths of Indian sailors killed in strikes in the strait of Hormuz, further straining relations between the two countries as their leaders meet at the G7 summit in France this week.

Last week, three Indian seafarers, who were working on board commercial oil tankers, were killed when the US launched missile strikes on the vessel as it sailed through the strait of Hormuz.

The deaths were the first fatalities since the US military began in April its blockade of the strait in an attempt to squeeze Iran’s economy and push its government towards a peace deal.

However, the seemingly blase response from the US government to the killing of the sailors has been the cause of great consternation in India. Headlines over the weekend simply read: “No apology from Washington.”

The initial US government statement initially did not even make any mention of the deaths, instead just confirming that its forces had carried out a strike on a vessel in the strait that was allegedly in violation of sanctions, and which had been “uncooperative”.

The Indian government first condemned the strikes with “strong protest” and summoned a senior US diplomat to convey that the strikes must stop.

But as pressure over the attack continued to build in Delhi, India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, spoke directly to the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, sending a signal that India would not simply let the matter slide.

“Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified,” said Jaishankar’s statement.

In return, however, Rubio appeared unrepentant and simply doubled down on justification while refusing to offer any kind of condolence. “Violations of the US blockade and the illicit transport of Iranian oil will not be tolerated,” said the state department readout.

The terse exchange is likely to put even more pressure on the relationship between Delhi and Washington, which were once seen as robust and thriving but have become increasingly more complex and strained in recent months due to economic and political tensions.

Modi has already flown to France to attend this week’s G7 summit, where he is expected to meet the US president, Donald Trump, on the sidelines. Many expect that the deaths of Indian citizens will feature prominently in their discussion.

Back home, the political pressure has been mounting for Modi to publicly raise his objections. The families of the three sailors who died came out publicly demanding answers for how the men had become collateral damage in the conflict and calling for their remains to be brought back.