New Delhi: India does not have a “blanket arrangement” with Iran for transit of Indian-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz and “every ship movement is an individual happening”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
In an interview to the Financial Times, Jaishankar said that negotiations between New Delhi and Tehran have resulted in two Indian-flagged tankers pass through the key shipping route.
“I am at the moment engaged in talking to them and my talking has yielded some results,” he said in the interview in Brussels.
“This is ongoing. If it is yielding results for me, I would naturally continue to look at it,” he added.
Global oil and gas prices have surged after Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
The West Asia region has been a major source of India’s energy procurement.
Jaishankar also denied India had given Iran something in return for allowing the ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
“It’s not an exchange issue,” he said.
“India and Iran have a relationship. And this is a conflict that we regard as something very unfortunate,” he said.
“These are still early days. We have many more ships there. So while this is a welcome development, there is continuing conversation because there is continued work on that,” he noted.
