India Engages Iran, US, Israel To Ensure Safety Of Its Ships

He said the two ships, Shivalik and Nanda Devi, are carrying more than 92,700 metric tonnes of LPG between them and had crossed the strait as a “result of these multiple contacts”.

Government officials said that of the 22 Indian ships in the Gulf region, six are LPG carriers and four are oil tankers. Jaiswal said several other Indian ships in the Gulf region were “on standby” and that India would continue engaging with various countries to ensure their safe transit in view of the country’s energy security.

On fertiliser stocks, Jaiswal said, “India has more than adequate stocks of fertilisers at this point of time”.

He also said the Iranian government had operated a chartered flight from Kochi on Friday night to take stranded Iranian citizens back to Iran. These included tourists, Iranian diplomats stationed in India and also “non-essential crew” of the Iranian naval ship “Lavan”, which remains docked at Kochi.

In a separate development, Jaiswal said India, as Chair of BRICS, was trying to evolve a common position within the grouping on the West Asian conflict, but the effort had been “difficult” and “impacted” because some BRICS members were directly involved in the conflict.

He said India would nevertheless continue to engage with its BRICS partners on the matter. India is to host the BRICS Summit later this year.

On the BRICS consultations, Jaiswal said, “Some members of the BRICS are directly involved in the current situation in the West Asia region, which has impacted forging a consensus on a common BRICS position on the ongoing conflict. As Chair of BRICS, India has been facilitating discussions among members through Sherpa channel. Last virtual BRICS Sherpa meeting was held on 12 March. In addition, Indian leadership has been engaging with leaders of BRICS members in the region. India will continue to engage.”

The 11-member BRICS grouping comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, besides Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which joined over the past two years.

The confirmation on the LPG ships came a day after Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Fathali had indicated that Iran would allow safe passage to Indian ships through the Hormuz Strait as the two countries are “friends”.

Jaiswal said India had been pressing for de-escalation and dialogue to resolve the conflict, and had also stressed the need to ensure unimpeded energy supplies and avoid the targeting of merchant shipping.

On fertiliser availability, he said, “India has more than adequate stocks of fertilisers at this point of time, especially for Kharif 2026. Our stocks of Urea are more than what they were at this point last year. Our DAP stocks are double of what they were last year. Our NPK stock position is similarly much higher today in comparison to last year. In so far as our domestic production of urea is concerned, our current production will be more than our nominal consumption, especially since the Rabi season is coming to an end. In addition, we had taken care to advance the scheduled annual maintenance of some our plants, which means that we are able to maximize production with available gas.”

He added, “⁠The Deparment of Fertilisers (DoF) had also put out global tenders well in time, in anticipation of the current situation. These have received a very good response and we expect to receive the bulk of the quantities ordered from a variety of sources by end March. DoF has also decided to procure spot gas on a competitive basis and the first phase purchase will be by Tuesday. ⁠All our partners have assured us of uninterrupted supplies and we hope to attain and maintain comfortable stocks of fertilisers by the time Kharif demand peaks by 15th of May. ⁠The DoF is tracking both global and domestic patterns carefully and taking the requisite steps. Observers and commentators would do well to look at the factual situation and not induce panic through uninformed speculation.”

Meanwhile, Iranian foreign ninister Seyed Abbas Araghchi criticised the United States over its position on Russian oil.

“The US spent months on bullying India into ending oil imports from Russia After two weeks of war with Iran, White House is now begging the world, including India, to buy Russian crude. Pathetic,” he said on X while referring to a Financial Times article titled “Oil windfall gives Russia $150 million a day”.