Terming the drone attacks by Houthi rebels in Abu Dhabi that left two Indians dead and two others injured, as “unacceptable”, India on Tuesday expressed solidarity with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In a telephone conversation, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan exchanged condolences over the attacks that led to fuel tank explosions at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) facilities in the Emirati capital on Monday, in which three ADNOC employees — two Indians and one Pakistani were killed — and six others injured. The Ministry of External Affairs said Mr Jaishankar had condemned the attack and "emphasized that in this day and age, such an attack on innocent civilians was completely unacceptable and against all civilized norms."
The conversation came on a day the Saudi and UAE-led coalition bombed the Yemeni capital Sana’a in reprisals for the drone attacks for which Houthis claimed responsibility, as tensions in the Gulf region threatened to rise.
Indian Embassy officials said they were coordinating with local authorities to complete formalities needed to send the bodies of the two Indians back as early as Wednesday, while the two Indians injured in the attacks have been discharged after medical treatment. The Embassy said it had established the identity of the two deceased Indian nationals but did not disclose their names.
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“[I] conveyed our strong solidarity with UAE in face of such unacceptable acts,” wrote Mr. Jaishankar in a tweet. “Our Embassy is working with UAE authorities to provide the fullest support to families of the deceased,” he added.
A statement issued by the UAE Foreign Ministry said Mr. Jaishankar had “expressed India’s strong condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist attack by the terrorist Houthi militia on civil areas and facilities in the UAE.”
Mr. Zayed spoke to Mr. Jaishankar amidst a number of telephone calls with his counterparts in the region, a day after the UAE Foreign Ministry had called on the international community to “condemn and completely reject these terrorist acts”.
On Tuesday, the Saudi and UAE led coalition in Yemen also launched major strikes on the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sana’a, killing at least 11 people, according to local reports. However, the strikes weren’t referred to in the readouts issued by India or UAE.
