MEA: No Indo-US Talks To Send Warships to Hormuz

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday said there have been no bilateral discussions between India and the United States on reports that US President Donald Trump had asked countries to send warships to guard the Strait of Hormuz.

Responding to queries, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India was aware that several countries were discussing the matter but clarified that no such talks had taken place between New Delhi and Washington.

“There have been no bilateral discussions,” Jaiswal told reporters.

He also said that 550 Indian nationals had crossed over from Iran into neighbouring Armenia, while another 90 had moved into Azerbaijan. Jaiswal added that the Indian Embassy in Tehran continues to remain “fully functional”.

Meanwhile, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar has said that India’s engagement with Iran has yielded “some results”, referring to discussions on the safe movement of Indian vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

In an interview with the UK-based Financial Times in Brussels, Jaishankar said there was no “blanket arrangement” with Iran for the passage of Indian-flagged ships and that “every ship movement is an individual happening”.

“I am at the moment engaged in talking to them (Iran) and my talking has yielded some results. This is ongoing. If it is yielding results for me, I would naturally continue to look at it. Certainly, from India’s perspective, it is better that we reason and we co-ordinate and we get a solution than we don’t So if that sort of allows other people to engage, I think the world is better off for it,” he said.

Jaishankar said the engagement was based on the longstanding relationship between India and Iran and denied that Iran had received anything in exchange.

“It’s not an exchange issue. India and Iran have a relationship. And this is a conflict that we regard as something very unfortunate. 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 said.

When asked whether European Union nations could follow India’s approach, Jaishankar said each bilateral relationship has its own dynamics.

“Each relationship, frankly, in a way stands on its own merits. So now, it’s very hard for me to compare this with some other relationship which may or may not have these. I’d be happy to share with (EU nations) what we are doing . . . I know many of them have had conversations (with Iran) as well,” he said.