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New Delhi: India has once again called for “unimpeded freedom of navigation” against the backdrop of a naval blockade announced by the United States (US) of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. “We have been closely following the developments in the West Asia region. As we have continuously advocated earlier, de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy are essential to bring in an early end to the ongoing conflict. We expect that unimpeded freedom of navigation and global flow of commerce would prevail through the Strait of Hormuz,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said at an inter-ministerial press briefing on West Asia on Monday.
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On being asked if India could expect ship movements for the remaining vessels that remain stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary with the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said, “We, in coordination with MEA, are making all efforts to bring our vessels back. As soon as it is possible for those vessels to sail for Strait of Hormuz, those vessels will come back.”
Currently, 15 Indian-flagged vessels remain stuck in Strait of Hormuz. The narrow chokepoint is critical to global energy trade as nearly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies transit through it. Ship movement through the narrow waterway has come nearly to a standstill since US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. India, as a large energy exporter, is acutely hit by the blockade. India’s LPG supplies have been impacted more severely vis-à-vis crude oil and LNG, as 90 percent of the LPG imports came via Strait of Hormuz. However, even as India arranges crude oil and LNG shipments through diverse sources, it is still spending big bucks on spot purchases.
The US naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz took effect on Monday, around 8.30 pm, as part of its efforts to pressure Tehran, threatening a fragile ceasefire agreed between Iran and the US last week. The blockade was announced by the US on April 12 after peace talks in Islamabad between the US and Iran failed. US President Donald Trump wrote on social media on April 12 that the US was going to start “BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz.”
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However the US Central Command issued a statement on April 12, saying, “US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, in accordance with the President’s proclamation. The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”
After the blockade took effect, Trump took to social media to warn Tehran, “Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated - 158 ships. What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, “fast attack ships,” because we did not consider them much of a threat. Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal.
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Meanwhile, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Monday that a prolonged crisis in the Strait of Hormuz could trigger a global agrifood catastrophe by disrupting fertiliser and energy exports, driving up food prices and squeezing crop yields. FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said poorer countries were most exposed because planting calendars meant delays in access to key inputs could quickly translate into lower output, higher inflation and slower global growth.
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