India and Liberia on Friday brought together a group of countries intended to address a recent spate of attacks on commercial vessels on the high seas that have led to the deaths of dozens of seafarers, including several Indians. The grouping, known as the ‘Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers’, met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s High Level Week in New York.
With nearly two million seafarers helping safely conduct oceanic trade – which accounts for roughly 80% of the international trade – Jaishankar pointed to India’s record in catalysing international action to ensure their safety including at the BRICS Summit earlier this month. “From the Black Sea to the Red Sea to the Gulf, attacks on civilian shipping have become a growing cause of concern. However, the Indian foreign minister added that the case of seafarers necessitated closer international cooperation given the fact that these individuals often worked on shipping flagged in countries different from their own nationality. The proposal for a new Group of Friends to handle issues related to maritime safety and the protection seafarers comes against this backdrop.
These actions that disrupt maritime commerce and cost innocent lives are simply indefensible,” said external affairs minister S Jaishankar at the event. India’s foreign minister called on the international community to “close ranks and deter such attacks”. “Prime Minister Modi proposed establishing a seafarers emergency support network which could connect the maritime authorities and embassies of the countries concerned and facilitate distress alerts, medical alerts, communication with family and support for evacuations where needed,” said Jaishankar. The grouping, Jaishankar said, would include major ship owning nations, countries with the largest number of ship registries and those providing the largest number of seafarers.
