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New Delhi: India has reiterated that attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea are “absolutely unacceptable” regardless of who carries them out, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha in a telephone conversation on Thursday (July 30), even as Kyiv publicly attributed the attacks to Russia and renewed its call for India to play a larger role in efforts to end the war.

The call came after a series of attacks on merchant vessels in the Black Sea this month left at least five Indian seafarers dead, prompting India to summon both the Russian and Ukrainian diplomatic missions in New Delhi. It also triggered an unusually public campaign by Kyiv for ministerial-level engagement on the deteriorating security situation in the Black Sea.

In a post on X after their telephone conversation on Thursday night, Jaishankar said the ministers had discussed “attacks on commercial shipping and Indian seafarers in the Black Sea”.

“Such attacks by any party are absolutely unacceptable and India condemns them unequivocally,” he wrote.

Jaishankar added that he had been briefed on recent developments relating to the Ukraine conflict and peace negotiations and reiterated that India had “consistently advocated dialogue and diplomacy between the parties concerned”.

He also highlighted the “fragility of the current international situation”, saying multiple conflicts across different regions were affecting fuel, fertiliser and food security, “especially for the Global South”.

Sybiha’s........

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