Foreign Secretary (FS) Vikram Misri represented India on Thursday at a key meeting hosted by the United Kingdom (UK) on Strait of Hormuz and the situation in West Asia and underlined that the way out of the crisis consisted of de-escalation and a return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue among all parties concerned.
Participating in the meeting through virtual mode. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, said. “Foreign Secretary represented India at a meeting convened by the UK Foreign Secretary (Yvette Cooper) on the situation in West Asia. More than 60 countries participated in the meeting.”
In his remarks at the meeting, the Foreign Secretary noted the importance of the principles of freedom of navigation and unimpeded transit through international waterways.
He emphasised the impact of the crisis on India’s energy security and the fact that India remains the only country to have lost mariners in attacks on merchant shipping in the Gulf, the statement added.
Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Secretary called for joint action to exert diplomatic and economic pressures to open the Strait of Hormuz, which has been “hijacked” by Iran.
Speaking at the meeting, convened from London on the Strait, Cooper said, “We have seen Iran hijack an international shipping route to hold the global economy hostage”.
She condemned Iran’s reckless actions in the Strait that are “hitting global economic security”.
“We are focusing on the diplomatic and international planning measures, including collective mobilisation of our full range of diplomatic and economic tools and pressures” to get it open, Cooper said.
“As far as India is concerned, we stand for free and open commercial shipping and for maritime security in keeping with international law. We continue to call for ensuring safe and free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as a matter of priority,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said while addressing his weekly media briefing in New Delhi.