New Delhi [India], June 13 (ANI): Foreign Affairs Expert Robinder Sachdev on Saturday said that India's official stance with regards to the killing of three Indian seafarers, which can be called a war crime.

Sachdev, in his conversation with ANI, said that the kin of these seafarers and MPs may ask for compensation from the US government.

'Definitely yes, the official stance of the government of India diplomatically is the strongest that can be. But that does not take away from the fact that this is a crime, or let's say a war crime. There are civilians being killed randomly. What this indicates and what is known so far is that American forces, wherever they are, they operate at will with disregard to civil human life. They have done it even in the Caribbean,' he said.

Sachdev said that not just the government, even the others must file a legal case in New York.

'See with respect to the drug boards they say, which could be very, okay, they're still criminals, right, but they're civilians, so no accountability. So I think this could be taken up. Firstly, by the way, I mean, the families could claim compensation. They should claim compensation from the U.S. Everything aside. This way it's not the government who's taking a hard stance, it's the public taking a stance and very often it is important that the government remains balanced statesman like but there other elements in the country parliamentarians some of our MPs can raise their voice and say that there should be a compensation. Okay not the official diplomatic statements but the public can be asking for these. So these are things which can have an impact on medical legal system actually. If you file a case in New York or somewhere and build a case properly over five, ten years you can get results also,' he said.

Sachdev said that US President Donald Trump is mostly not updated, or tries to dodges the questions.

'See President Trump often is not maybe updated or he's trying to distract the question. The core point is that CENTCOM, the American Central Command, which is commanding in this theater, it has claimed or accepted that it is the one who fired these missiles. CENTCOM in this ceasefire blockade has disabled around 7 to 8 ships so far, which occurred in the past few days were the first ones in which civilian seafarers were killed. But there have been seven or eight other ships which have been disabled. But the first victims have been these three Indians so far. So I think it's well required that from India a response which asks countries to adhere to international norms and rules and also investigations for crimes which are committed by the military,' he said.

He further said that apart from Iran's declaration that the Indian seafarers had died at US' hands, India itself also knows that fact.

'Thank you Iranian embassy for saying that what you're saying that it's the Americans who did it. But I think India knows itself. So we do not need any other nations telling us who conducted these strikes. We know ourselves. The American Central Command has admitted. So it's clear as water. It seems that these missiles were fired by American forces, which resulted in the killing of three Indian civilians in one of the ships,' he said.

He noted that Iran has been taking an aggressive stance during the whole process.

'No, Iran in this entire process has been taking aggressive stance. In fact, the longer the time has passed or is passing, the more aggressive Iran is becoming in terms of displaying that it has an upper hand or claiming an upper hand. And it has been not only shifting the goalposts, but Iran has been creating new goalposts. Before the war began, uranium was the number one issue. When there was a ceasefire, a new super weapon came into existence birth, the state of Hormuz. Now all discussions became about opening of the state of Hormuz and uranium went number two in the priority list,' he said.

Sachdev added that for first resolve is peace in Lebanon. Then number two is Strait of Hormuz and uranium has now become number three.

'Then Iran created another cold post, Lebanon, that there should be peace in Lebanon as an integral part of this deal. So all discussions started happening that number one issue to first resolve is peace in Lebanon. Then number two is Strait of Hormuz and uranium has now become number three. So even when Araghchi is right now saying that firstly, we will solve the Hormuz issue and then for 60 days or two months or some such period discussions about nuclear will be taken up at the second stage and America seemingly wants to go along with it. America seemingly wants to stop this war for the time being at least,' he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday claimed that the peace deal between the US and Iran is 'closer than ever', with a deal to be finalised 'in the next 24 hours.'

Sharif said that finalisation is likely in the next 24 hours, and technical level talks will follow.

https://x.com/CMShehbaz/status/2065751039136207357?s=20

In a post on X, he said, 'We are closer to a peace deal than ever before. With finalisation likely expected in the next 24 hours, Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the peace deal immediately after, followed by technical-level talks next week. We would like to thank United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran for their ongoing commitment during the negotiations, and we extend our sincere appreciation to our brothers in the region for their support. We are confident that this historic peace deal will form a strong foundation for lasting peace.' (ANI)