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NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs on Thursday confirmed that India was involved in talks, on opening the Strait of Hormuz, hosted bu UK.Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri represented India at a meeting convened by the UK Foreign Secretary on the situation in West Asia. More than 60 countries participated in the meeting,” said the MEA in a statement.“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. He also underlined that the way out of the crisis consisted of de-escalation and a return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue among all concerned parties,” it further added.
Meanwhile, insisting on safety during the journey during the weekly MEA briefing, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said, “We are in touch with Iran and other countries there to see how best we can get unimpeded transit and safe transit for our ships, which are carrying products including LPG, LNG and other products. Through this conversation that we have had over the last several days, we have had six Indian ships which have been able to safely cross the Strait of Hormuz, and we continue to be in touch with relevant parties.“This comes as UK PM Keir Starmer, earlier this week announced that his country will host a meeting of around 35 countries later this week to discuss reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz.The meeting will “assess all viable diplomatic and political measures that we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and resume the movement of vital commodities,” he said during a press conference at Downing Street.He added that UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will host the discussions, which aim to bring countries together to push “as one for maritime security across the Gulf.”
