India summons US diplomat after 3 sailors die in Oman Gulf

India summoned the U.S. chargé d’affaires in New Delhi, Jason Meeks, on Friday after U.S. attacks on commercial vessels in the Gulf of Oman killed three crew members from India. The Indian Foreign Ministry issued a strong protest and said the deaths of the sailors should have been avoidable. India also said the use of lethal force against civilian ships was unacceptable because it threatened maritime security and regional stability. A day earlier, U.S. Central Command said its forces attacked and disabled a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman on suspicion it had violated the sea blockade against Iran. According to CENTCOM, it was the third commercial ship to be stopped in a week.