Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a concerted effort to rescue Indian sailors stranded off the Chinese coast for the past several months.
In the December 30 letter released on Thursday, Mr. Chowdhury asked the government to “press into service all diplomatic instruments to flag global attention on Chinese atrocities on Indian sailors and securing their release from Chinese captivity”.
“May I urge upon the government of India led by you that a concerted effort should be brought into motion for rescuing the sailors stranded off the Chinese coast aboard the cargo ships MV ANASTASIA and JAG ANAND for months together without any sight of relief,” he wrote. “They are simply victims of a trade war between China and Australia.”
The two ships with 39 Indians on board have been anchored in Chinese waters after they were not allowed to unload their cargo.
Since June 13, MV Jag Anand is anchored near Jingtang port in Hebei province with 23 Indian sailors.
MV Anastasia with 16 Indian nationals as part of its crew is in China’s Bohai Sea since September 20.
Shiv Sena leader writes to Jaishankar
Shiv Sena Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha Priyanka Chaturvedi, in a separate letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, said it was “distressing to note that the stranded sailors have been left to their fate without much support from the government”.
“It has also been widely reported that on board the merchant ship the Anastasia, four crew members are on suicide watch. The families of the sailors, many of whom are based in Maharashtra, have been running from pillar to post with no help in sight. Trade disputes between countries are not new. However, we cannot make our citizens the sacrificial lambs in this dispute,” Ms. Chaturvedi said in her letter.
