Opposition parties are turning up the heat on the government’s apparently feeble response to the US military strikes on commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman that killed three Indian sailors and injured several others last week.

The parties have questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar’s statement on the issue, demanding that Modi address the nation and ensure justice and compensation for the victims.

“You see a Prime Minister who couldn’t care less about America consistently attacking commercial ships. But on June 11, when it attacked the ship, it claimed lives. It killed three of our bravehearts — deck cadet Aditya Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, engine fitter Shivanand Chaurasia from Uttar Pradesh and chief engineer Patnala Suresh from Andhra Pradesh,” Congress social media and digital head Supriya Shrinate told reporters on Monday.

She said four days had passed since the incident, but Modi hadn’t spoken a word about it.

“Will Narendra Modi shake Donald Trump’s hand (at the G7 meeting in France this week)?” she asked, referring to how the Indian cricket team refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts following the terror attack in Pahalgam.

“Pakistan was the perpetrator of the crime back then. The perpetrator of the crime — the killer, the murderer — this time is America,” Shrinate said.

Shrinate also questioned the Centre’s version of the phone call between Jaishankar and US secretary of state Marco Rubio.

“He (Jaishankar) stated that he had registered his protest with America and declared the killing of our sailors as illegal. But soon after.... Rubio made a statement in which America — forgetting about condolences, sympathy, or remorse — actually threatened us, saying that if we continued to disobey America, we would have to face the consequences.... So, one of the two is lying, and it looks like it is Jaishankar,” she said, asking why the foreign ministry hasn’t protested against Rubio’s statement if it was incorrect.

Shrinate said the Congress wanted Modi to break his silence and convey condolences to the bereaved families.

“He must raise the issue of the reckless and brutal killings of Indians with Trump when he meets him. He should also address America’s brazen attitude following the killing of our people…. Furthermore, if necessary, all diplomatic measures should be taken to ensure America pays a price for violating the Geneva Convention, the UN Charter, and every law of the land. America launched an attack without conducting rescue or search operations and simply left, fully aware that Indians were on board those vessels,” she said.

Asked whether the Congress would protest US trade representative Jamieson Greer’s visit this month, Shrinate said: “We will decide on the course of action, but the reality is that at a time when the US military is recklessly killing Indians… should we be trading with them?”

The Congress has called for the scrapping of the trade deal with the US to protect domestic agriculture and industry.

The Left has called for protests. “The BJP-led Union government is abjectly failing in its duty by reneging on the independent foreign policy and becoming a junior partner to the US. The meek response of the government and its failure to force an apology from the US is the latest example,” the CPI, CPM, CPIML-Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party and the All India Forward Bloc said in a statement.

“We demand the Union government to ensure proper compensation to the families of the seafarers who have been killed. We call upon the people of our country to protest against the US aggression and condemn the killing of Indian seafarers. All our units across the country will organise protest demonstrations against the US and also demand the Indian government to pursue all diplomatic means to punish those responsible for these deaths,” the statement added.

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal pointed out that Modi had responded to Trump’s congratulations on completing 12 years as Prime Minister on the day when the sailors’ deaths were reported.

“I look forward to working with you to further advance the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership,” Modi had posted on X.

In a video uploaded on social media, Kejriwal asked why Modi was looking forward to working with a “murderer”.

“I want to tell Trump that he is a murderer.... Just because we have a weak PM, don’t think that 140 crore Indians are weak.... Very soon, we will have a strong PM and Trump and America will face revenge for their insults to India and the murders of Indians,” he said.