India summoned the US deputy chief of mission in Delhi on Friday to protest against US military strikes on commercial vessels off the coast of Oman, an Indian source said, the second time in three days New Delhi has expressed its displeasure.

Three Indian seafarers were killed in a US strike on the Settebello tanker off Oman on Wednesday while 20 crew members were rescued after a strike on another vessel, Jalveer, on Thursday.

This was after the June 10 summoning, when for the first time in its dealings with the Trump administration, India had on Wednesday summoned a top US diplomat in New Delhi following an attack earlier in the day by American forces on a commercial ship off the coast of Oman. Of the 24 Indian seafarers on the ship Settebello, 21 were rescued while three were killed.

A Palau-flagged oil tanker, Marivex, carrying 24 Indian seafarers, was disabled by US forces on June 8. All crew members were safely rescued.

On June 10, the US struck another Palau-flagged tanker, Settebello, killing three out of the 24 Indian sailors on board.

Another vessel, Jalveer, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker with 20 Indians, was attacked on Thursday.

Claiming that MT Jalveer “attempted to transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman”, the US Central Command had said, “A US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forces.”

It said the tanker was “disabled” in the Gulf of Oman “after the vessel violated the blockade against Iran by attempting to transport Iranian oil, marking the third commercial ship disabled by American forces this week”.

“Earlier this week, US aircraft disabled Palau-flagged vessels MT Marivex and MT Settebello on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Marivex violated the blockade by attempting to sail to an Iranian port and Settebello attempted to transport Iranian oil,” the CENTCOM had said.

Addressing the media during an inter-ministerial briefing on 10 June, External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal detailed India's sharp diplomatic pushback following the summoning of the US envoy.

"We attach high importance to the welfare and well-being of our seafaring community. When this particular attack on the ship MT Settebello occurred, we lodged a strong protest with the American side," Jaiswal stated.

"We summoned the US Charge d'Affaires and he was conveyed our deepest concern over the ongoing incidents of attacks. We also registered our strong protest," he said, firmly underscoring that these military actions "must stop" immediately.

"We further conveyed that dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward for the peaceful resolution of the conflict, and that there should be unimpeded access through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law," Jaiswal asserted.

The attacks on commercial vessels, the resumption of military strikes by US and Iran and the issue of maritime security frame both diplomatic and economic challenges for G7 leaders meeting next week at Evian-les-Bains in eastern France – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump will be among world leaders at the meeting.

Modi is undertaking an official visit to France – June 13-14 (Nice), June 16-18 (Evian and Paris) – and Slovakia from June 14-16.