WASHINGTON, Dec. 5—Secretary of State William P. Rogers complained here today to Lakshmi Kant Jha, the Indian Ambassador to the United States, that an Indian air attack had been made on one United States merchant vessel and that an Indian naval vessel had intercepted another within the last 36 hours.

Both incidents are believed to have been incidental to the outbreak of fighting between India and Pakistan. Neither was believed by State Department sources to have been deliberate, but, more likely, to have resulted from mistaken identity.

India had announced that her navy was instituting “contraband control” and would stop neutral merchant ships to search for war material consigned to Pakistan. Any such ships, she said, would be sent to an Indian port under escort.

John F. King, a State Department spokesman, stressed that Mr. Rogers had made a “complaint” rather than a “protest” — a more serious diplomatic communication — to India because information in the department's hands on the incidents was still fragmentary.

According to Mr. King, the United States merchant ship, Buckeye State, which was anchored off Chittagong, East Pakistan, waiting to unload United Nations relief supplies, was attacked by Indian aircraft. The Buckeye State is owned by the State Marine Lines of New York.

The captain and two crew members were injured in what State Department sources termed “indiscriminatory strafing and bombing.” The names of the injured were not immediately available. The ship radioed news of the attack to Hong Kong and said that it was proceeding to Rangoon, Burma, for medical assistance.

Today, Mr. King said, another United States merchant vessel, the Expeditor—owned by the Export‐Isbrandtsen Line — was intercepted by Indian warships off Madras, southeast India, and escorted into that port.

Mr. Jha confirmed that Mr. Rogers had telephoned him this morning. He said that Mr. Rogers had expressed “concern” about the two incidents and had asked that the Indian Government take every precaution to avoid further interference with United States vessels proceeding lawfully on the high seas.

Mr. Jha said that he had asked his Government for further information and would communicate it to the State Department when it was received.

The Indian Ambassador expressed the briefing given yesterday by a senior State Department official. He publicly ascribed to India the “major responsibility for the broader hostilities” that have erupted between India and Pakistan. The official refused to be identified.

Mr. Jha said that he had been telephoned yesterday by Joseph J. Sisco, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, and had been informed that the United States would shortly request an urgent meeting of the Security Council.

Mr. Jha said that he had then asked Mr. Sisco if there was anything further that the United States Government wished to communicate to India. Mr. Sisco, the Ambassador, said, had answered “No.”