NEW DEHLI: India called on the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday to probe the fatal shooting of an Indian fisherman by a US navy ship in waters off Dubai, the Indian foreign ministry said.
"India's ambassador in Abu Dhabi has requested UAE authorities to probe the circumstances of the tragic incident," ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.
He added that India's embassy in Washington was "in touch with US agencies regarding the incident in the Gulf and assured of a full investigation".
One Indian fisherman was killed and three others were wounded on Monday when a US navy ship opened fire on their vessel near the port of Jebel Ali in the tense waters of the southern Gulf.
US defence officials said the motorboat had ignored warnings not to approach the refuelling ship USNS Rappahannock, and that sailors on board the American vessel feared it could pose a threat.
"Since 2000, we've been very concerned about small boats," a defence official in Washington told AFP, referring to the year of a deadly suicide bomb attack against the destroyer USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden.
The US embassy in New Delhi issued a statement conveying "its condolences to the families of the crew" of the boat, but said they had "disregarded non-lethal warnings and rapidly approached the US ship."
The latest incident has echoes of another shooting that caused a diplomatic spat between Italy and India.
Two Italian marines guarding an oil tanker shot dead two Indian fishermen in February off the coast of the southern Indian state of Kerala.
They have been charged with murder and are on trial in an Indian court despite their claims that the fishermen had ignored warnings and approached the tanker suspiciously.
COMMENTS (13)
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Pakistan frees 55 Indian Fishermen while the US shoots dead a poor Indian fisherman. Who is the enemy?
AFP should have carried the full story ( or was it edited out at the desk). the boat belonged to a Dubai company...it was not rpt not an Indian boat...... hope this satisfies the curiosity of people like Max and HaiderAgain Pakistanis are ranting like fools without knowing the entire case. As usual. As always.
The fishermen who were killed were working for UAE fishing companies. It is the responsibility of UAE to investigate this.
The indian fisherman don't know their boundaries, as we frequently see them wandering into Pakistani waters. But straying into UAE territory, thats too far even by indian standards. Maybe india can train its fisherman about maritime boundries to avoid such embarassments in future.
Asking UAE to probe against US firing is hilarious. This is in fact a 'sports-killing' and by it giving a message to Iran that look we are too much an aggressive army...hee hee.
This is now funny.. Why not ask USA directly whose navy opened the fire??. UAE navy didn't do any harm...
India now seems to be sending refugees via ships!
This is not like the Italian case or the fishermen who get picked up by Pak/ Sri Lankan navies. India's maritime neighbors are Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Bangladesh - if these guys were fishing in UAE territorial waters, it is hardly possible that they just strayed a couple of km from Indian territory. Unfortunate incident, but it is not possible to allocate all the blame to the US ship.
At least the Indians can try !! UAE will never question its Master !!
The US crew thought they were Iranians so they killed them. Any ways, what were the Indians doing in the Waters of Iran and UAE. Encroaching or stealing the fish?