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Oil tanker detention: India again summons Iranian Ambassador
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

New Delhi, August 27
India today summoned Iranian Ambassador Gholamreza Ansari and conveyed its strong concern over the continued detention of oil tanker MV Desh Shanti by the Iranian authorities for two weeks and sought its early release.

This is the second time Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh has summoned Ansari since August 14 when MV Desh Shanti was taken into custody by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. She said New Delhi expected the ship to be released without any further loss of time. Ansari was also told that the crew of the vessel must be treated with all due consideration and courtesy in keeping with international norms.

MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said both sides would make another effort to resolve the issue amicably. Officials of the two countries have already held a series of meetings on the issue, but a solution has eluded them.

Iran says the detention of the tanker in the Persian Gulf was "purely a technical and non-political issue.

The oil tanker, carrying crude from Iraq, was stopped by an Iranian Navy ship and "coerced" into the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on August 14. The detention came at a time when India has significantly reduced its oil imports from Iran.

New Delhi has strongly refuted Tehran's claim that the tanker had caused oil pollution in the Gulf of Persia.