India sends navy to escort tankers as Iran strait crisis deepen

India is sending additional warships to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea to ensure the safe passage of its commercial vessels, sources familiar with the matter said, as Tehran considers allowing more of its fuel tankers to exit the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reports.

Over half a dozen Indian Navy ships, including logistics vessels, are being deployed as a precautionary measure. The ships will be stationed east of the Strait of Hormuz and will not enter the waterway itself. Their mission will focus on escorting Indian-flagged vessels until they reach safer waters in the northern Arabian Sea, the sources said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions.

In recent days, India successfully secured the safe transit of two state-owned tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and is negotiating with Iran to allow several more fuel shipments to pass. The Strait of Hormuz has effectively been closed since late February, following US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, creating acute fuel shortages in India, which imports roughly 90% of its LPG from the Middle East.

New Delhi has not responded directly to US President Donald Trump’s call for other nations to send battleships to the strait. Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters that the issue “wasn’t discussed with the US in a bilateral setting.” The ministry and the Indian Navy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

India traditionally participates in international military operations under a United Nations mandate rather than aligning with unilateral actions, officials note. It is also not unusual for India to deploy warships to protect commercial vessels in conflict-prone areas. In 2024 alone, the navy sent at least a dozen ships to the Arabian Sea in response to piracy attacks linked to Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.

The current deployment is part of Operation Sankalp, launched in 2019 to safeguard merchant shipping and India’s maritime interests in the Gulf. Currently, 22 India-flagged vessels are stranded in the Persian Gulf, including six LPG carriers, one liquefied natural gas ship, and four crude oil tankers, according to government officials.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said late last week that he had discussed the “serious situation in the region” with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, including strategies to secure the safe passage of India’s ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

By Vafa Guliyeva