India Denies Talks With US on Warship Deployment in Hormuz After Trump’s Global Appeal

India on Monday said it has not held any bilateral discussions with the United States regarding.

The deployment of naval vessels to secure merchant shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, even as tensions continue to rise in the region. The clarification from the Ministry of External Affairs came after Donald Trump urged several countries to send warships to keep the strategic waterway open amid the ongoing crisis involving Iran.

In a post on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he hoped countries such as China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom would deploy warships to the region to ensure the waterway remains “safe and open”. He accused Iran of creating an “artificial constraint” by attempting to close the Strait of Hormuz.

However, none of the countries named by Trump have made any immediate commitments to send naval vessels.

Responding to questions at a media briefing on whether Washington had approached New Delhi on the matter, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India had not engaged in bilateral discussions with the US regarding the proposal.

“We are aware of this particular matter being discussed by several countries. We have not yet discussed it in a bilateral setting,” Jaiswal said, adding that India would continue consultations with various stakeholders on the issue.

Meanwhile, European countries sought greater clarity from Washington about its broader strategy in the conflict involving Iran. As foreign ministers of the European Union met to discuss the situation, Johann Wadephul, Germany’s foreign minister, said it was important for the United States and Israel to specify when they consider the military objectives of their deployment to have been achieved.

European leaders are weighing whether to support Trump’s proposal to deploy warships to strengthen security in the Persian Gulf as concerns grow over the potential disruption to global energy supplies and maritime trade routes.