India summons Ukrainian envoy after merchant vessel with four Indians attacked
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India on Monday summoned Ukraine's Ambassador after a merchant vessel carrying four Indian nationals was attacked over the weekend, raising concerns over the safety of Indian seafarers operating in the Black Sea conflict zone.
The move came two days after MV AGN Ragnar was struck while docked at Ukraine's Odesa port.
"Today, the ambassador of Ukraine to India, Dr Oleksandr Polishchuk, was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs in connection with the attack on the commercial vessel MV OMORFI, which resulted in the tragic death of an Indian national," the MEA said in a statement.
According to the Indian Embassy in Kyiv, two of the four Indian sailors have been located and are safe. Efforts are continuing to trace the remaining two.
"The ministry conveyed its serious concern over the incident and condemned such attacks on commercial shipping in the strongest terms, underscoring their adverse impact on the safety of maritime navigation, freedom of navigation, and international commerce," said the statement.
"The ambassador was requested to convey to the Ukrainian authorities India’s strong concerns over the targeting of commercial vessels and reiterated that such actions, which endanger the lives of innocent civilian seafarers, are unacceptable and must be avoided," it added.
On Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs issued an advisory asking Indian nationals to carefully assess security risks before accepting jobs on commercial vessels operating in or transiting conflict-affected waters in the Black Sea region.
The advisory followed a series of attacks on merchant vessels in the area.
The attack on MV AGN Ragnar is the third incident involving ships with Indian crew members in the past week.
Since July 18, five Indian seafarers have been killed in attacks in the Black Sea region, prompting India to step up diplomatic engagement over the safety of its citizens.