Iran-US war: Strait of Hormuz disruptions have implications for India, says Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have direct implications for India's security and economic stability, given the reliance on West Asia for energy requirements., and that the current geopolitical instability can no longer be viewed just as a regional issue.

The minister, who is in Germany for a bilateral visit, called for enhanced cooperation between the two nations and said that India's response to the energy disruption in West Asia reflects its capacity to respond to global crises with "calmness, foresight and effective institutional coordination".

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"For a developing country like India, which relies on the West Asian region for a significant share of its energy requirements, disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are not distant events, they are stark realities with direct implications for our security and economic stability," Singh said in an address to the German parliamentary standing committee on defence and security.

Singh, who was welcomed at the Berlin airport with military honours and was flown in a special German Air Force aircraft on the first day of his visit, said that modern-day global challenges require a coordinated response and trusted partnerships. India and Germany are not only strategic partners but also consequential voices in shaping the global discourse, he said.

In his address, the minister also made a strong pitch for enhanced collaboration between the defence industrial ecosystems of India and Germany, emphasising that new security threats and ongoing technological transformation have made the security situation complex and intricately connected.

Also read: India reviews safety of its ships after Hormuz firing

In particular, he mentioned the prowess of the German Mittelstand (small and medium-sized companies) in advanced and emerging technologies, calling on them to collaborate with Indian startups and private companies.

Singh is on a three day official visit to Germany and is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with counterpart Boris Pistorius and other senior leaders of the government. Discussions will focus on enhancing defence industrial collaboration, strengthening military-to-military engagements and exploring opportunities in emerging domains such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and drones. A Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap and Implementing Arrangement for Cooperation in UN Peacekeeping Operations Training are likely to be signed in the presence of both defence ministers.