“S Jaishankar, Iran Minister Spoke”: Foreign Ministry Following Arrival of an Oil Tanker

According to his office’s press briefing on Thursday afternoon, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has had three conversations with his Iranian colleague in recent days. The most recent discussion focused on marine transportation and security, which is an important subject given the unpredictability of the world’s oil supply due to pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and US-Israel attacks on Iran.

Reporters were informed that any further remarks would be “premature” at this point.

The ministry’s comments were made soon after a tanker flying the Liberian flag that was transporting crude oil from Saudi Arabia docked in Mumbai, becoming the first ship to cross the Hormuz and arrive in India.

The ministry also confirmed that Indian nationals in Iran had returned safely, while dozens more had been shifted from within Tehran to safer locations within the war-torn country.

“We have some 9,000 Indians in Iran… these comprise students, seafarers, business people, and pilgrims. We issued an advisory some time back and, following the advisories, several – a lot of them students – left the country and reached home.”

“We also shifted several Tehran-based Indian nationals to other safer locations… and are assisting others with land-border crossings through Azerbaijan and Armenia. From there they can take commercial flights to return to India,” the ministry explained.

On Monday Jaishankar told Parliament dialogue and diplomacy are the only means of resolving the conflict in the Middle East, and said the Indian government is “closely monitoring developments” in a region home to millions of Indians. “We are concerned about them,” he said.

He added that the Middle East is vital to India’s energy security and a significant trading partner, with an estimated $200 million worth of trade occurring there each year. The violence in Iran and the larger Middle East has claimed the lives of two Indians thus far. 

Last week, an attack on the Palau-flagged oil tanker Skylight off the northern coast of Oman claimed the lives of two seamen, Dalip Singh of Rajasthan and Captain Ashish Kumar of Bihar.  A third, Mumbai resident Dixit Solanki, was listed as missing.  Joint US-Israeli raids on Iran on February 28 marked the start of the conflict. Iran retaliated with drone and missile attacks, as well as attacks on oil and economic infrastructure in neighboring Gulf countries.The violence has affected the world’s oil supplies and killed over 1,300 people in Iran alone. A fifth of that supply is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran controls geographically and has placed a military blockade on. This causes rises in the price of Brent crude.

The Indian administration has downplayed worries over the nation’s energy supply issue, claiming it has enough gas and petroleum reserves to weather the storm.