Modi presses Trump on seafarer safety in Iran deal
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- PM Modi raised seafarers' safety with Trump on June 17, 2026 at the G7 in France, asking that protections for them be built into the US-Iran peace deal's implementation.
- Three Indian crew members of a merchant ship were killed last week in US military strikes on three merchant vessels off the coast of Oman, triggering outrage in India.
- Modi told Trump that keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is vital for the global economy and that India has consistently championed freedom of navigation, framing the seafarer issue as part of that broader concern.
- Trump called the meeting "great," described Modi as "a tough negotiator," announced plans to travel to India, and declared "as long as I am at the White House, India has a friend in the U.S."
- Trump, asked about the three Indian deaths, called it "a rough profession, no question about it" and pledged "we will work together," but offered no concrete safety commitment.
- India-US relations had been badly strained by punitive US tariffs, H-1B visa fee hikes, and Trump's repeated claims of brokering the India-Pakistan ceasefire, though both leaders now sound optimistic about a trade deal.
Why it matters: India is asking for binding safety guarantees in a US-Iran deal it isn't a party to, after three of its citizens died in US strikes — and with hundreds of thousands of Indian seafarers working global shipping lanes, the answer has real operational stakes. Trump offered warmth and a vague "we will work together," but no specific seafarer-protection language, leaving Modi's central ask rhetorically acknowledged but substantively unresolved.
