New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday stated that 11 Indian ships have exited the Strait of Hormuz so far as a result of ongoing diplomatic engagement with Iran.
Addressing a weekly media briefing in New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that a forward movement is being seen in diplomatic engagements with Tehran, and the ministry continues to be in touch with the Iranian authorities.
”We have seen forward movement and, as a result of forward movement, diplomatic engagement and conversations with the Iranian side, so far 11 Indian ships have exited the Strait of Hormuz. Thirteen ships continue to be there in the Persian Gulf, and we continue to be in touch with the Iranian authorities, so that to ensure that the remaining ships can also cross the Strait of Hormuz and come to India, which is their destination,” Jaiswal told reporters.
The Strait of Hormuz appears to be set for opening following Wednesday’s announcements by the US and Iran that the blockades on the waterway crucial to the global economy were being lifted.
After US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday evening he was pausing the blockade to see if an agreement with Iran could be reached, Iran’s military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said on Wednesday that it would allow ships to pass the Strait of Hormuz.
It claimed that the US threats had been “neutralised”.
Trump threatened on Wednesday morning to resume bombing at “a much higher level and intensity than it was before” if Iran did not lift the blockade on the waterway crucial to the global economy.
Iran blocked the Strait, through which about 20 per cent of global oil and gas passes, when Israel and the US began the bombing campaign against it on February 28.
The US imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports on April 13 when talks between negotiators of both countries collapsed.
(IANS)
