Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “silent” and listening to orders from the United States “like an obedient servant” after American strikes killed three Indian seafarers earlier this week off the coast of Oman.

In a social media post, Gandhi added that the US had neither expressed remorse nor issued an apology. Instead, “America has continued issuing orders”, said the Congress leader.

His remarks came a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and registered India’s protest against the American strikes on commercial vessels in the Gulf.

“Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified,” Jaishankar had said on social media.

During their conversation, Rubio “stressed that all commercial vessels should immediately comply with orders from US forces as they seek to uphold peace and security in the strait”, the US Department of State’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated on Saturday.

Rubio “underscored that violations of the US blockade and the illicit transport of Iranian oil will not be tolerated”, Pigott added.

The US has imposed a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz since April 13, preventing transit to and from Iranian ports as part of efforts to restrict Iran’s oil trade amid the conflict in West Asia.

On Sunday, Gandhi said that “a free country would never tolerate” the language used by Rubio after the killing of the three Indians.

“But our compromised PM? Silent,” wrote Gandhi, adding that such a leader “would not defend the nation’s honour” because he was being controlled by “those who insult the country”.

Jaishankar’s conversation with Rubio had come hours after the Ministry of External Affairs summoned the US Chargé d’Affaires, Jason Meeks, for the second consecutive day to convey India’s protest against the continued US strikes on ships carrying Indian crew members in West Asia.

Meeks had also been summoned on Thursday 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.

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.

Edited by Sneha.