India protests US tanker strike off Oman as it spars with Pakistan at UN; SIPRI puts arsenal at 190 warheads
India summoned a US diplomat to lodge a 'strong protest' after a strike on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman; while 24 Indian crew of the MT Marivex were rescued, a seafarers' union reported two Indian sailors dead and one missing in a related attack. At the UN Security Council, India's envoy Parvathaneni Harish denounced Pakistan as an 'organised factory of hatred,' condemning its airstrikes inside Afghanistan as a 'massacre' and rejecting the 'Fitna al-Hindustan' label Islamabad applies to Baloch militants. A new SIPRI Yearbook estimates India's nuclear arsenal has grown to roughly 190 warheads (Pakistan ~170, China ~620), with India advancing MIRV, canisterised missiles and sea-based deterrence. On trade, an Indian official said an interim US deal could close after Washington's tariff probe concludes, with a first tranche targeted by mid-July despite a proposed new 12.5% US tariff.
Why it matters
The incidents off Oman underscore how Gulf maritime instability directly threatens India's energy lifeline and its large diaspora of seafarers, and a protest aimed at Washington complicates an already delicate trade negotiation. India's UNSC offensive against Pakistan and its expanding nuclear and missile programs reflect a hardening two-front strategic posture toward both Islamabad and Beijing, even as China and Russia publicly court New Delhi as a 'partner not rival.'
🔎 Ground signal
Indian seafarer unions (FCUI) pressed the navy and foreign ministry to intervene urgently, signaling growing anxiety over crew safety in the Gulf; note divergence between embassy messaging that all 24 were rescued and union claims of Indian fatalities. Iranian state media amplified India's protest against the US over the tanker strike.