00:00So, Indian seafarers once again caught in the crossfire of the conflict between Iran and the United States.
00:07Joining me now is one of India's most distinguished admirals. Admiral Arun Prakash joins me.
00:13Appreciate your joining us, Admiral Prakash.
00:15At least eight Indian seafarers have been killed in this conflict between Iran and the United States.
00:21The latest just happening today.
00:23What's your first reaction to it?
00:26Are we seeing a constant violation of international law by both sides?
00:31Iran firing its cruise missiles, America with its naval blockade and innocent Indian seafarers getting caught in the crossfire in
00:40the Strait of Hormuz.
00:43Yes, it is indeed most unfortunate that once again Indian seafarers should have been made a target in this conflict.
00:51This is the second or third instance where an Indian sailor has been killed.
00:57And as you perhaps know that Indian sailors form almost one third of the seafaring population of the world.
01:05So, at any given time there will be one or more Indian sailors on any ship's crew.
01:10So, this targeting of merchant ships is most unfortunate and it reflects very poorly on all of us and on
01:18the international community, in fact.
01:20And if I may add, international laws seem to have been jettisoned or abandoned by everyone.
01:27The laws of war, humanitarian laws, maritime laws, etc. have been just suspended.
01:33And nobody seems to be bothered about it.
01:36I mean, for example, this whole conflict started with an attack on a girl's school where 160-odd children were
01:43killed.
01:43And then we had the assassination of the political leadership of a country by military means, unheard of.
01:50And then we have this succession of attacks on neutral merchant ships.
01:54So, I think this has to be halted and India needs to now exert its moral or strategic weight and
02:03bring the belligerents to heel and ask them to put a stop to this unnecessary violence.
02:10Because it's going to have immense impact on the world economy.
02:15Already energy is being hit badly.
02:23So, you know, we also had, Admiral, you'll recall, an Iranian ship which had just completed naval exercises with India
02:31being hit off the coast of Sri Lanka.
02:34Several Iranians died in that.
02:36And now, as you rightly say, several Indians seafarers are being caught in this crossfire.
02:41You're saying, put your moral and strategic weight.
02:44But what weight can we put in?
02:45Do we really have any leverage in a battle like this?
02:50What real weight can we put?
02:52How do you ensure free and safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz?
03:01Well, I mean, this whole issue seems to have gone out of hand.
03:06I mean, there's a total impasse in the Persian Gulf.
03:11On one hand, the U.S. Central Command says that there is freedom of navigation and everybody can go and
03:17come as they please.
03:18At the same time, the Iranians are saying that there is, no, nobody enters or leaves the Persian Gulf without
03:24our permission.
03:25And then after that, President Trump has gone and said that he is the champion of the Hormuz or some
03:33words to that effect.
03:34And now, U.S. is going to impose a tax of 20% on every vessel that leaves or enters.
03:39So, there seems to be total chaos in the Persian Gulf.
03:43And somebody in the international community seems to be completely at a loss of how to proceed or go ahead.
03:49But the net result is that energy traffic has plummeted.
03:54Insurance rates have zoomed.
03:56Nobody is willing to undertake war insurance.
03:58So, the net impact has already been felt.
04:02I think Brent crude has shot up again to $80, $90 per barrel.
04:07And world reserves are coming down.
04:09America is going to feel it very soon if they haven't felt it already.
04:14And Trump himself is going to feel the heat very soon.
04:18So, somebody like India, which is badly affected, and yet it has some moral weight, should speak up and say,
04:27let's stop this.
04:28Come back to the negotiating table.
04:30I mean, there was great hope that the Islamabad MOU would bring an end to this mindless conflict.
04:35But that seems to have been completely shattered now.
04:38So, somebody has to speak up.
04:39Nobody seems to be speaking.
04:44Who do you blame?
04:46Do you blame one side or the other when you read that in this particular instance, it was a UAE
04:50vessel, which carried this Indian seafarer.
04:55There were UAE tankers, which were hit by an Iranian cruise missile.
04:59Do we blame the Iranians?
05:01We've already called in the ambassador of Iran to India.
05:05India, is it squarely on Iran, this responsibility, or do you believe it's a shared responsibility that both Iran and
05:13the United States have much to answer for?
05:18No, in this case, yes, the ships were Emirati ships.
05:23So, the Emirates are involved in this conflict one way or the other.
05:27But earlier, the U.S. Navy, U.S. aircraft fired missiles at neutral ships, killing civilian crews.
05:34That was completely uncalled for.
05:35And if you step back a little, this is a hugely unequal conflict.
05:40Iran, suffering under the weight of 40 years of economic sanctions and so on, and boycotted by the whole world,
05:48is facing the world's most powerful military nation in alliance with one of the most modern and powerful militaries belonging
05:56to Israel.
05:57And they've been hammered for the last 40-50 days.
06:00They have very little to fight back with, except the Hormuz Strait, which they've weaponized.
06:06You can't blame them.
06:07They have nothing else to fight with unless they keel over and surrender abjectly.
06:11So, they are using the only instrumentality which is left to them, which is the Hormuz Strait and making the
06:19world and the U.S.A. feel the pain.
06:21So, while shooting, I mean, firing at merchant ships is not part of any blockade or anything.
06:33But they have no choice, I think, in this particular case.
06:40So, if you're saying the Iranians have no choice, do the merchant navy vessels have any choice?
06:44You made an important point, 30%.
06:46I repeat that figure, nearly 30% of those seafarers are Indians across global merchant navy ships.
06:53Do merchant navy companies now just abandon the Strait of Hormuz in your view?
06:58Because we're seeing a slowdown, in any case, in the number of vessels, once again, that are going through the
07:03Strait.
07:03But they are, it is one of the world's major global oil supply routes.
07:08Do you believe that until there is some sense that prevails on both sides, merchant navy ships should just abandon
07:14the Strait of Hormuz?
07:18No, they should not.
07:19In fact, merchant shipping traffic should be resumed and brought to as near to normal as possible.
07:24But then, I mean, how do we bring a halt to the hostilities?
07:30Let's face it, Iran is faced with an existential threat.
07:35A head of state, the president of the USA has said, not once or twice, but many, many times,
07:40that he's threatening to wipe out a whole civilization.
07:44I mean, you could stretch it a little and say he's threatening a nuclear attack.
07:48So, when you threaten a nation with existential threat, then how do you bring these hostilities to a close?
07:57So, somebody has to back off.
07:58Somebody has to bring sanity to this whole affair.
08:01I mean, Israel has certain interests that they want to achieve.
08:07And they are prodding America to continue with these hostilities.
08:12And Iran, of course, is in a corner.
08:16So, all three, I mean, the Islamabad, MOU seem to be returned to sanity.
08:20But I think the USA has, with great deliberation, shattered it.
08:25And we are back to square one.
08:29Right.
08:31Right.
08:31Well, very strong words.
08:33A need for sanity, as you're calling it.
08:35And someone needs to speak up.
08:37Admiral Prakash, as always, for joining me.
08:40Thank you so much.
08:45Thank you, Mr. Shra.
Comments