Group of Friends on Seafarer Safety: India and Liberia build a UN coalition as attacks on merchant ships mount

On 25 September 2026, on the margins of the high-level week of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Liberia’s Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti launched the Group of Friends on Safety & Security of Shipping & Seafarers. Calling attacks on civilian shipping “from the Black Sea to the Red Sea to the Gulf” “indefensible” and “unacceptable”, Jaishankar said: “Put simply, these attacks must stop.”