DA Editorial Desk | Dhruba Deka
Every barrel of oil that reaches an Indian refinery has passed through the hands of seafarers, and many of those seafarers are Indian. This week another tanker was reported struck near the Strait of Hormuz, after maritime officials counted 12 vessels attacked between 5 and 11 October. Brent crude is trading above 100 dollars. The economic cost of this war is visible on every fuel bill. The human cost is easier to overlook.
It should not be. In April, India’s ambassador to the United Nations called the killing of civilians and the threats to cargo ships in Hormuz “absolutely unacceptable”, after attacks killed several Indian sailors. In July, after Iran struck two UAE-managed supertankers and one Indian crew member died, India’s shipping regulator told owners and managers to stop placing Indian crew on vessels transiting the strait until further orders. We could not confirm whether that advisory is still in force, and the government should say so plainly.
India’s position is genuinely hard. It depends on Gulf energy, it has working relations with Tehran and the Gulf monarchies alike, and it has no wish to be dragged into another country’s war. Quiet diplomacy has served it well. But quiet should not mean silent about the people actually at risk. Three steps would make the policy credible. First, publish a clear, regularly updated advisory and a list of the vessels carrying Indian crew. Second, make sure every seafarer’s family has a reliable channel to the Directorate General of Shipping and to Indian missions in the Gulf, with compensation and repatriation guaranteed. Third, press, with other major importers, for a navigation arrangement that protects crews of every nationality, not only the ships of the powerful.
Energy security is usually measured in barrels and reserves. It should also be measured in the safety of the people who bring the oil home. A nation whose citizens work in a war zone on its behalf owes them more than a circular.