Manama/New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that in January this year when the Houthi attacks on ships was at its peak with some vessels near India’s coastline being targeted, he had visited Tehran to speak with the then Foreign Minister and President to convey that “we really cannot let this pass”.
Speaking at the 20th IISS Manama Dialogue on how does India reconcile its relations with Iran and the attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthi militia, he said that in January India’s naval deployment in the Red Sea region was at its peak. At the time the Houthi drone attacks “had come the farthest east, and there were times when ships which were in the middle of the Arabian Sea were targeted. In fact, some were pretty close to our coastline, which is quite far away which were targeted.
“So I specifically went to Iran to discuss the issue with at the time the then Foreign Minister (Hossein Amir-Abdollahian) and then president (Ibrahim Raisi), to convey our concerns and to say that we really cannot let this pass.”
He continued: “Sometimes doing your obligation, in this case maritime security, but also undertaking a parallel diplomatic effort and communicating clearly on your own behalf and sometimes on the behalf of others, I think they go together as a package. They are not alternatives… It is important that conversations take place, sometimes reasonable arguments have more effect than something more harsher.”
On why India has not joined the US-led naval operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea when Bahrain has joined it, EAM said that India has had 30 of its ships going in and doing their duty in the region. “Some countries are more comfortable joining formal arrangements, some are not. It’s also a part of the world today that we need a degree of bespoke diplomacy. It’s not one size fits all. Not everybody can do the same thing with the same degree of openness and formality.”
On India’s contribution to peace efforts in Gaza, he said that India has been contributing to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and has also increased its contribution. India is also contributing medicines, and to Gaza through the PLA, and to Lebanon.
“A lot of what else we are doing has been on the diplomatic side. We are among the countries that has the ability to speak to Israel and to Iran. And that one communication link has been weak; we are not the only communication link we know that, but we are serving an important cause by making sure at the right moments — I don’t want to go into details obviously– but at the right moments the right people get what is the intended message.”
UNI
