Jaishankar Highlights India’s Concerns Over Attacks on Seafarers

United Nations — India and Liberia have brought together a group of countries to address attacks on commercial ships and improve protections for their crews, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said Friday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers, Jaishankar pointed to a series of recent attacks that have killed or endangered Indian crew members.

Two days earlier, the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier MV Cape Dove was attacked in the Gulf of Oman, killing an Indian sailor, he said. Ten days before that, the Panama-flagged oil tanker El Gaya was struck in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving an Indian crew member missing.

“These, regrettably, are no longer exceptional occurrences,” Jaishankar said.

He also cited two attacks in the Black Sea. The chief officer of the MV Omorfi, an Indian national, was killed when the vessel was struck in Russian territorial waters on July 18. The following day, four Indian seafarers died after the MV Golden Leo was hit after departing Odessa.

Jaishankar said sailors from other countries have also been casualties of attacks this year.

“From the Black Sea to the Red Sea to the Gulf, attacks on civilian shipping have become a growing cause of concern,” he said. “These actions that disrupt maritime commerce and cost innocent lives are simply indefensible.”

He called for greater international cooperation to deter attacks on commercial shipping and protect mariners operating in the Gulf, Red Sea and surrounding waters.

Jaishankar said international trade exceeds $140 billion a day, with oceans carrying more than 80 percent of global commerce. Nearly 2 million seafarers serve aboard the world’s merchant fleets.

Beyond security threats, crews also face prolonged confinement aboard vessels, delays in crew changes and repatriation, separation from their families and psychological stress, he said.

Because a ship’s flag and the nationalities of its crew members are often different, Jaishankar said coordinated government action is particularly important. India is a major source of seafarers, while Liberia operates the world’s largest shipping registry.

India and Liberia proposed the Group of Friends as a forum bringing together countries involved in ship ownership, registration and crewing.

Jaishankar said the group includes major ship-owning countries, nations with large shipping registries and countries that supply significant numbers of seafarers. He invited members to help determine the group’s priorities, procedures and terms of reference.

The initiative follows concerns India raised at the BRICS summit it hosted two weeks earlier.

Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed creating a seafarers’ emergency support network linking maritime authorities and embassies. The network could help transmit distress alerts, arrange medical assistance, keep families informed and coordinate evacuations when necessary.

India has also raised maritime safety concerns at the United Nations. Jaishankar said India co-organized a Security Council meeting with Greece and the Philippines in November last year on protecting seafarers and participated in an April 2026 debate on the safety of waterways.

The new group is intended to provide a dedicated forum for addressing threats to commercial shipping and the people who work aboard vessels. (Source: IANS)