India has not held bilateral discussions with the United States on deploying naval vessels to ensure the safe passage of merchant shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the External Affairs Ministry said on Monday.
The clarification comes after US President Donald Trump’s call for countries to send warships to keep the strategic waterway open amid tensions in the region.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and other countries affected by what he termed the “artificial constraint” caused by Iran’s attempted closing of the Strait of Hormuz would send their warships to the area to keep the waterway “safe and open”. However, there have been no immediate commitments by the countries named by Trump.
Responding to questions at a media briefing on whether the US had approached India to send its warships to the region and New Delhi’s stance on the issue, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has not engaged in bilateral talks with Washington on the matter.
“We are aware of this particular matter being discussed by several countries. We have not yet discussed it in a bilateral setting,” Jaiswal said. He added that India will continue discussions with several stakeholders regarding the issue.
Separately, in an interview with the Financial Times, he warned that "if there's no response or if it's a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato."
However, European countries on Monday demanded to know more about US President Donald Trump's plans for the war on Iran and when the conflict might end as they weighed whether to agree to his call to send warships to help shore up security in the Persian Gulf.
As European Union foreign ministers gathered to discuss Trump's demand, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said it's important for the United States and Israel to define "when they consider the military aims of their deployment to have been reached."
"We need more clarity here," Wadephul told reporters.
