New Delhi [India], June 14 (ANI): Congress leader Manish Tewari on Sunday accused the United States of not being regretful of the incident in which three sailors were killed in US missile strike on a merchant vessel in the Gulf and said the tone of its statement put out after conversation between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was "very coarse".
He said rather than being remorseful, the US has been "rather belligerent".
"It is extremely unfortunate. If you peruse the readout which has been put out by the US State Department, it is very clear that the US, rather than being regretful, remorseful, sensitive, empathetic, sympathetic with regard to the unfortunate demise of 3 Indian sailors who were killed in the US missile strike on a tanker, they have been rather belligerent. They have clearly said that the rules of the US blockade must be obeyed. What the implication is that the tanker was allegedly violating the blockade," Tewari told ANI.
"Be that as it may, the fact is that Govt of India had made its displeasure known by calling in the diplomats from the US Embassy. But obviously, it has fallen on deaf ears. The tone, tenor of that readout is very coarse, to put it very mildly. One would hope and wait that Dr Jaishankar also puts out his readout of that call and I do hope that the EAM did show the gumption of standing up to this belligerence by the US Secretary of State," he added.
Earlier in the day, Tewari had slammed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over his remarks and said the comments are "abrupt, abrasive confrontational."
Tewari said in a post on X that there was "no regret, no remorse, no empathy, no sympathy" in Rubio's remarks and these "could not have been more belligerent".
The Congress leader said it is not the language with a country, which is described as "friend".
"No regret , No remorse, no empathy, no sympathy. Abrupt, abrasive confrontational. @SecRubio could not have been more belligerent. The sub text in between the lines - is Indian sailors were responsible for what happened to them. Hardly the language you use with a country you call a friend," Tewari said in a post on X.
He said Jaishankar should put out read out his call.
"Rather than being namby pamby and wishy washy S Jaishankar must put out his read out of the call. It would be interesting to know whether S Jaishankar stood upto this coarseness," Tewari added.
The US Department of State said that Rubio, in his telephonic conversation with Jaishankar, stressed that all commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz must adhere to orders by the US.
"Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke yesterday with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The two officials discussed recent events in the Strait of Hormuz. The Secretary stressed that all commercial vessels should immediately comply with orders from U.S. forces as they seek to uphold peace and security in the Strait. He underscored that violations of the U.S. blockade and the illicit transport of Iranian oil will not be tolerated," the Office of Spokesperson said.
Jaishankar on Saturday said he spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to convey India's strong protest over US Navy attacks in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners.
He described such actions against commercial shipping as unjustified.
"Spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening. I reiterated India's strong protest at the attacks by the US Navy in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners. Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified," Jaishankar said in a post on X. Some other Congress leaders have also slammed Rubio's remarks. (ANI)
