New Delhi, Mar 26:
Sailing through the Strait of Hormuz – the only sea channel linking the oil-rich Persian Gulf with open oceans – does not require permission from any country, a senior government official said as more Indian vessels prepared to sail through the war-hit zone.
Rejecting talks of stranded Indian vessels in the Persian Gulf being allowed to sail through the strait only after reaching some kind of an agreement with Iran, which controls the narrow shipping lane, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Special Secretary at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said the movement through strait is taken by shipping companies and their contracting entities after considering safety and other conditions.
Movement of ships through the strait had come to a near halt after the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran, and Tehran’s sweeping retaliation that hit US bases in the Gulf regions as well as Israel.
“No permission is required to sail through the strait,” Sinha said at the media briefing on the developments in West Asia.
He was asked if New Delhi took permission or paid Iran for the movement of its stranded vessels, particularly those laden with LPG – a commodity that has become scarce in the country following the war.
The strait is covered by international navigation conventions, he said. “There is freedom for navigation through the strait.