India on Saturday termed as “simply unacceptable” the targeting of commercial shipping and seafarers amid the ongoing Gulf conflict and voiced concern over the “weaponisation of everything” with acute consequences for Global South nations.
On the eve of his UNGA address, Jaishankar, along with Liberia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Sara Beysolow Nyanti, launched the ‘Group of Friends on Safety & Security of Shipping & Seafarers’. “This year, we are witnessing a conflict in the Gulf, one that is exacerbating an already difficult situation. India called upon all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, ensure protection of civilians, and uninterrupted flow of energy and commerce. “New challenges in the maritime domain have added to longstanding ones on land. “We must ensure that the safety and security of shipping and seafarers is never compromised. Jaishankar referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in August at the SCO Summit that “endless war must give way now to an end to war.
The initiative, which includes 23 other partners, aims to rally global public opinion against such unwarranted targeting.
We remain deeply concerned over continuing hostilities,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said here. Delivering India’s national statement at the General Debate at the high-level 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Jaishankar particularly called out the targeting of commercial shipping and seafarers transiting international waterways amid the ongoing conflict and described the attacks that have led to loss of lives as “simply unacceptable”. There have been attacks on commercial shipping and seafarers in the Gulf, and from the Red Sea to the Black Sea,” Jaishankar said. He said it is “completely unacceptable” that seafarers from India as well as from other nations have lost their lives in these attacks on shipping and maritime crew. Scrupulously observing international law is an integral element of that endeavour,” Jaishankar said. India said the conflict in Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year, is equally concerning.
