India has taken a strong action against the US Navy Ship, USNS Rappahannock  which has killed  an Indian Fisherman and injured other 3 others at  about 48 kilometers off the Jebel Ali port, southwest of Dubai.  Washington has however has condoled the death and assured proper Investigation.
The fisherman who was killed has been identified as Sekar of Periyapattinam in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. The injured are Muniraj, Panpuvan and Murugan who also hail from Ramanathapuram, according to Karaiyur Fishermen Association President Malairajan.
In a statement, the Bahrain based US fifth fleet that coordinates all activities of its warships in the region said that one of its ships fired as a means of last resort, after all warnings to stop the boat went unheeded.
“An embarked security team aboard a US navy vessel fired upon a small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly approached the US ship near Jebel Ali,” it said.
“The USNS Rappahannock used a series of non-lethal, preplanned responses to warn the vessel before resorting to lethal force,” the statement observed.
“The US crew repeatedly attempted to warn the vessel’s operators to turn away from their deliberate approach,” it added. “When those efforts failed to deter the approaching vessel, the security team on the Rappahannock fired rounds from a .50-calibre machine gun.”
“We will stay in regular touch with US and UAE authorities to ascertain full facts and take appropriate further action in the matter,” an Indian spokesperson said.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of life of the Indian fisherman and the injuries sustained by the others. Our thoughts are with their families,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, US ambassador to India Nancy Powell telephoned Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai Tuesday morning to convey her “regret” for the loss of life and assured that the US government would conduct full investigation into the shooting.
In a statement, the US embassy in New Delhi conveyed its “condolences to the families of the crew of the small motor vessel which came under fire from the USNS Rappahannock on July 16 after the vessel disregarded non lethal warnings and rapidly approached the US ship.
It also said that the incident is being probed.
The Indian embassy in Washington has been in touch with the US government since Monday, the spokesperson said.
The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi too is working with local authorities to carry out “full investigation” into the circumstances leading to this “unfortunate and tragic” incident, he said.
India has also asked its acting consul general in Jebel Ali to provide all necessary assistance.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted that the Indian embassy in the US is in touch with US agencies “regarding the incident in Gulf and is assured of full investigation into tragic incident”.
He also tweeted that India’s Acting Consul General in Dubai has rushed to Jebel Ali port “to provide necessary assistance to Indian nationals involved in Gulf incident” and that India’s ambassador in Abu Dhabi has requested the UAE authorities to probe the incident.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is also probing the incident. Tariq Ahmed Al Haidan, the assistant to the UAE foreign minister for political affairs, said: “The concerned UAE authorities are investigating the shooting incident.”
India is already prosecuting two Italian marines in a Kochi court for killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea in February.