Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Military planners from nations around the globe will meet next week in London to discuss securing the Strait of Hormuz for shipping, the British government said on April 2, according to The New York Times. The military planners would discuss “viable options to make the Strait of Hormuz accessible and safe for navigation.
The focus was on achieving consensus on the principle of freedom of navigation and on applying maximum diplomatic pressure on Iran. US President Donald Trump has called on other countries to “build up some delayed courage” and reopen the waterway, which serves as a passage for roughly a fifth of the world’s oil deliveries. Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain has made it clear that Britain will not be drawn into the conflict.
Britain and France are seeking to coordinate an international intervention after the war ends. The meeting of ministers from 41 nations to discuss a political and diplomatic response to the war was held virtually. Participating countries included France, Germany, Italy, Canada and some Gulf nations, but the United States was not among them.
India invited
At the invitation of the UK, India joined a meeting of over 60 countries to explore ways to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, whose closure has sent oil prices spiralling.
For India, roughly 40 per cent of the oil, 50 per cent of LNG, and over 80 per cent of LPG flow through the strait.
