DEORIA, India
\nSushila Devi sat sobbing on the floor of her house \u200bin Deoria, northern India after authorities told her that her husband was one of three sailors killed in a U.S. attack \u200con a ship off Oman.
\n\u201cIf he had told us about the dangers, I would have called him back,\u201d she cried out as women from the family gathered round to console her. \u201cThe government should not allow people to go there.\u201d
\nIndia on Friday took the rare step of lodging a second protest with the U.S. over the strike that \u200btook place more than three months into the Iran war. Sushila Devi\u2019s words echoed calls also building up among Indians for their own \u200bgovernment to do more to protect its sailors stuck in the Gulf.<\/p>\n
Critics want more than \u2018routine protest\u2019
\nHer husband Shivanand Chaurasia, the sole earner in the family with two young children, was among 24 Indian mariners aboard the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello when it was hit \u200bon Wednesday.
\nThe U.S. military\u2019s Central Command said an aircraft fired precision munitions into the vessel\u2019s engine room after the crew \u201crepeatedly failed to comply with \u200bdirections from American forces\u201d.
\nIt said the strike was part of an ongoing blockade targeting oil shipments from Iran launched after Tehran sharply curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and liquefied natural gas before the conflict.
\nIndia\u2019s foreign ministry said it had summoned the U.S. charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires to convey \u201cits deep \u200bconcern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping\u201d.
\n\u201cSuch actions are unacceptable and undermine the safety, security and stability of international \u200bmaritime commerce in a sensitive region at a difficult time.\u201d
\nThe U.S. embassy in Delhi did not respond to a request for comment.
\nThe deaths have prompted calls \u200con India\u2019s \u2060Prime Minister Narendra Modi to go beyond registering protests.
\nIndia – the world\u2019s second-largest supplier of seafarers behind the Philippines according to government figures – has had to pay a huge cost for the conflict it played no part in starting, say opposition and other critics.
\nOn Thursday, another ship with 20 Indian crew was attacked, with no deaths or injuries reported.
\n\u201cIndia has responded … with a routine diplomatic protest and apparent efforts to downplay the significance of the attacks,\u201d said Brahma \u200bChellaney, a strategic affairs analyst in \u200bNew Delhi.
\nOPPOSITION SAYS MODI SHOULD TALK \u2060TO TRUMP
\n\u201cHad the victims been Chinese sailors instead, Beijing would almost certainly have reacted very differently, treating the strikes as a direct and lethal provocation by the U.S. and elevating the incident into a major international \u200bcrisis.\u201d
\nThe opposition Aam Aadmi Party urged Modi to take up the matter with U.S. President Donald Trump. The \u200btwo leaders are expected \u2060to meet on the sidelines of next week\u2019s Group of 7 summit.
\nThe main opposition Congress party said the government\u2019s policies had \u201cemboldened external powers to act against Indian interests with impunity\u201d.
\n\u201cIndia\u2019s strategic autonomy and abiding interests must be defended with clarity and resolve,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DEORIA, India Sushila Devi sat sobbing on the floor of her house \u200bin Deoria, northern India after authorities told her that her husband was one of three sailors killed in a U.S. attack \u200con a ship off Oman. \u201cIf he had told us about the dangers, I would have called him back,\u201d she cried out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n