The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said that it had summoned the United States’ Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks for the second consecutive day to register its protest against the continued US strikes on ships with Indian crew members in West Asia.New Delhi said that it had “once again conveyed its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping”.A chargé d’affaires represents a country’s diplomatic mission in the absence of an ambassador. Sergio Gor, the US ambassador to India, is in Kazakhstan.The actions by the US military “are unacceptable and undermine the safety, security and stability of the international maritime commerce in a sensitive region at a difficult time”, the ministry stated.It added that Meeks was asked to convey New Delhi’s concerns to Washington and to ensure that the US military units operating in the region “take all necessary measures to prevent the loss of civilian life”.Meeks had also been summoned on Thursday by the ministry to register a protest against Wednesday’s strike on a commercial tanker off the coast of Oman in which three Indians were killed.Twenty-one members of the crew had been rescued from the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello.On Thursday, Randhir Jaiswal, the external affairs ministry spokesperson, said that New Delhi had informed Meeks of “our deepest concerns on the ongoing incidents of attacks” and had “registered a strong protest” in the matter.“These attacks came from the US Navy stationed there,” Jaiswal had said at the government’s press briefing about the war in West Asia.The US Central Command had acknowledged striking the Settebello, claiming that the vessel had violated the American blockade restricting maritime traffic linked to Iran. The ship was allegedly attempting to transport oil from Iran.Hours after Meeks was summoned by the ministry on Thursday, the US said that its military had “disabled” another tanker off the coast of Oman as it was allegedly attempting to transport oil from Iran.Videos posted on social media showed smoke billowing from the Guinea-Bissau-flagged bitumen tanker MT Jalveer, which was located off the port of Shinas in northern Oman. Twenty Indian seafarers on board the vessel were evacuated.On Monday, another tanker, Marivex, carrying 24 Indian seafarers, was targeted by the US military for allegedly violating the blockade. All crew members were rescued.New Delhi stated on Thursday that all three ships struck by the US military between Monday and Thursday were foreign-flagged. Two of the ships are sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control and one is “also in the category of non-compliant ships”, Jaiswal had said.Written by Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by Sneha.