“The Indian Navy continues its presence in the Persian Gulf to take care of Indian maritime interests in the region, as part of Operation Sankalp. INS Talwar has been deployed in the Strait of Hormuz due to the deteriorating security situation in the Gulf. INS Talwar happens to be India’s frontline stealth frigate.
In this episode, I take you through the reasons behind Operation Sankalp and how the threat of ship hijacking is reaching the Indian shore.
The two ship-hijacking hotspots are now the Gulf of Guinea off the West African coast and, the Persian Gulf. Some of you may be surprised to see the Persian Gulf figure in the list.
As the Somali pirates ran out of business after the World Navy’s stepped up the vigil off the Somali coast, these people started to migrate elsewhere. West Africa was an easy target for the hijackers with the bulk of the trade happening through the Gulf of Guinea, including the Nigerian oil.
The geopolitical situation in the Gulf took a turn for the worse when United Nations imposed sanctions on Iran in 2016. Trump further added to those sanctions in 2018 and even forced India to refrain from buying Iranian oil. This forced the Iranians to find clandestine methods of carrying out trade during the sanctions.
In the meanwhile, the Islamic terrorist group, popularly known as the Houthis, accelerated their fight gains the Saudi-backed military in Yemen. Some say that due to support from Iran, the Houthis were able to capture power in North Yemen. In return, the Houthis made themselves available to ‘assist’ Iran in the export-import of cargo.
This arrangement led to increasing in Ship hijacking in the Strait of Hormuz, a small narrow sea lane joining the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. The start is also conveniently located to the Iranian large Naval base in Bandar Abbas.
India gets more than sixty percent (60%) of its oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Also, trade with all the Gulf countries happens through the same strait. In the past couple of years, several ship hijackings involved Indian crew. Therefore, the Indian Navy had to step in to protect both ships and men (Crew).
Watch the full episode.
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