India, Thailand at odds over pirate ship sinking
* Thai company claims alleged pirate 'mother vessel' was its fishing trawler hijacked off the coast of Yemen
By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: A diplomatic row is building between India and Thailand, as the Thai embassy issued a note verbale to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs seeking information on sinking of its ship in the Gulf of Aden on November 18.
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukerjee defended Indian action.
"I would like to express deep condolences for the loss of lives. It must be kept in mind that the trawler was under the command of pirates. As for international law and practice, if pirates don't surrender and if a ship or vessel is sunk, it (sinking the ship) is perfectly within international law," Mukherjee said at a press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
The Indian Navy's INS Tabar, which has been patrolling the piracy-infested Gulf of Aden since November 2, sank a pirate vessel last week, winning accolades worldwide.
Hijacked:
However, the incident took a curious turn after a Thai company on Tuesday said the alleged pirate 'mother vessel' was its fishing trawler hijacked off the coast of Yemen on the morning of November 18.
Mukherjee said immense suffering had become a regular feature of operations on sea-lanes. The international community should take concerted action against piracy, the external affairs minister replied when asked if India would offer compensation for the sunken ship.
Ministry sources sought to play down the development saying that the Thai move was merely a note verbale, not a demarche, and the Thai government had simply asked for more information about the incident on the basis of published press reports.
India is yet to respond to the Thai note verbale. The ministry has asked the navy for a complete account of what happened at high seas on November 18 evening.
The navy is likely to send its response by Thursday, after which the ministry would respond to the Thai note verbale.
Bangkok's predicament is that it owes an explanation to its people as the ship carried 16 crew members, all but one Thais, who are missing and presumed dead ever since INS Tabar sank the ship.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan