'Dangerous escalation': India condemns drone attack targeting Barakah nuclear power plant in UAE

India urges all sides to return to dialogue and diplomacy amid rising regional tensions

Calling it a “dangerous escalation", India has strongly condemned the drone attack targeting the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India has urged all sides to return to dialogue and diplomacy amid rising regional tensions.

In an official statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday, India said it was “deeply concerned" about the strike on the UAE’s nuclear facility.

"India is deeply concerned at the attack targeting the Barakah nuclear facility in the UAE. Such actions are unacceptable and represent a dangerous escalation. We urgently call for restraint and a return to dialogue and diplomacy."

The drone strike caused a fire at the nuclear power plant, officials in Abu Dhabi said on Sunday, at a time when progress appears to have stalled in efforts ⁠to end the US-Israeli war with Iran and restart shipping in the Gulf.

Emirati officials said they ‌were investigating the source of the strike and ​that the UAE had the full right to respond to such "terrorist attacks". The UAE has previously accused Iran of attacking its energy targets in what it has called an escalation of the conflict in the region.

The drone hit an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said. Radiological safety levels were unaffected and there were no injuries, it ​said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said emergency ⁠diesel generators were providing power to the plant's "unit 3", and called for "maximum military restraint" near any nuclear power plant, adding that it was following the situation closely.

During the war that began with US ⁠and Israeli strikes against Iran ‌on February 28, Iran has repeatedly targeted the UAE and other Gulf states that host US military bases, hitting sites that include civilian and energy infrastructure.