India on Friday said repeated attacks on seafarers and civilian shipping that disrupt maritime commerce and cost innocent lives are “indefensible” and “unacceptable”, as it launched a new maritime initiative with Liberia at the United Nations.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Liberia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Sara Beysolow Nyanti launched the ‘Group of Friends on Safety & Security of Shipping & Seafarers’ on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session. India and Liberia will serve as co-chairs of the group, which will focus on maritime trade, safety and security.
Addressing the inaugural meeting, Jaishankar said, “From the Black Sea to the Red Sea to the Gulf, attacks on civilian shipping have become a growing cause of concern. These actions that disrupt maritime commerce and cost innocent lives are simply indefensible. We are here to not just highlight this dangerous trend, but to urge the international community to close ranks and deter such attacks.” He said the effort was to bring all relevant stakeholders together through an inclusive platform.
He said the group includes major ship-owning member states, countries with the largest number of ship registries, and those that provide the maximum numbers to seafaring. He also listed recent attacks on maritime vessels and seafarers that led to the death of Indian shipping personnel and damage to containers.
Jaishankar said that two days ago, the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier MV Cape Dao was attacked in the Gulf of Oman and an Indian sailor was killed. Earlier, the Panama-flagged oil tanker El Gaia was struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, after which an Indian crew member went missing. “These, regretably, are no longer exceptional occurrences. In the last few months, commercial shipping and marinas have been subjected to repeated attacks in the Gulf, the Red Sea, and its vicinity. Such unacceptable actions are also occurring in the Black Sea,” he said.
He said recent global developments had underlined the threats to the safety and security of seafarers, including prolonged confinement on board, delayed crew changes and repatriation, separation from families, psychological distress and lethal attacks. “Despite the existence of international and regional frameworks for protecting the rights of seafarers, there is a need for stronger and closer international cooperation on this matter,” he said.
Jaishankar also recalled that at the recently concluded BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed a seafarers emergency support network. He said the network could connect maritime authorities and embassies of the countries concerned, and facilitate distress alerts, medical assistance, communication with families, and support for evacuation when needed.
Later, speaking to the press at the UN Headquarters, Jaishankar said the world had seen “unacceptable attacks” on commercial shipping in recent months and described them as “legally and morally indefensible”. “We believe that there can be no justification for such violence and loss of lives. Put simply, these attacks must stop,” he said.
He said the world was “beset by conflicts and confrontation” that were threatening the basic needs of the international community, including food, fuel, fertiliser and finance, which he described as the four Fs. He said the initiative was meant to add to stability and confidence in an uncertain and turbulent world, and to signal that the international community could not remain a spectator or a victim of violence.
Jaishankar said India, as a major source country for seafarers, and Liberia, which hosts the largest shipping registry by tonnage, had joined hands to draw greater global attention to issues concerning seafarers and the commercial shipping industry. He noted that nearly two million seafarers operate the world’s merchant fleet, “often navigating choppy waters, both literally and metaphorically”.
With maritime shipping accounting for four-fifths of the global trade of USD 35 trillion last year, he said the group would be an “inclusive, voluntary, and action-oriented platform aimed at deepening cooperation among member states and other stakeholders”. “It will promote exchange of views, sharing of experiences and practical cooperation. It will complement and strengthen the existing international frameworks, mandates, and instruments in these areas, and the discussions and deliberations of the group will focus on issues of importance with regard to shipping and seafarers,” he said.
He added that members of the group would join hands to highlight and advance the issue in plurilateral and multilateral formats, including at the UN, the International Maritime Organisation and the International Labour Organisation. Overall, India and Liberia used the UN platform to launch the new group while pressing for stronger international cooperation to protect seafarers and commercial shipping from repeated attacks.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
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