India rescues 10 nationals after Strait of Hormuz commercial vessel attack.
MEA urges de-escalation as Strait of Hormuz tensions threaten global shipping.
Search continues for one missing Indian crew member off the Oman coast.
Ministry of External Affairs said on Sunday that ten of eleven Indian nationals aboard a commercial vessel attacked off the coast of Oman had been rescued, while one crew member remained missing, AP reported.
Search and rescue operations were continuing, with India's embassy in Muscat coordinating closely with Omani authorities.
In a statement condemning the attack on the vessel GFS Galaxy, the MEA thanked Oman for its support and described the continuing incidents of attacks on commercial shipping in the region as "deeply worrisome".
It called for immediate de-escalation and an urgent diplomatic resolution to the conflict, stressing that the targeting of commercial vessels and civilian infrastructure must stop and that free navigation through international waterways had to be restored without delay.
The attack on the GFS Galaxy was part of a sharp deterioration in the security situation around the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. The United States struck Iran early in the morning following an Iranian attack on a container ship in the strait that set the vessel ablaze and forced its crew to abandon it. Iran is reported to have responded with strikes targeting Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
The latest violence dealt a fresh blow to the already fragile interim deal reached between Washington and Tehran last month to end the war that began on 28 February. The Strait of Hormuz has emerged as the single most contentious issue standing between the two sides and any permanent resolution, with Tehran seeking formal recognition of its authority over the waterway and the right to charge vessels for passage, positions Washington has firmly rejected.
The weekend's escalation followed a meeting on Saturday between the foreign ministers of Iran and Oman, who agreed to continue discussions on the Strait of Hormuz at both technical and political levels. The narrow waterway sits within the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman but has long been treated under international law as an international strait through which all vessels enjoy right of passage.
India's statement reiterated that a negotiated, diplomatic solution to the conflict remained the only path to restoring stability, calling on all parties to return to the table.
