At bilateral with Iran’s Pezeshkian, Modi calls for ‘freedom of navigation’ in West Asia
A bilateral meeting was held between India and Iran on the margins of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, with the discussion centred on regional stability and freedom of navigation in West Asia.
The Indian side emphasised "lasting peace" while "safeguarding freedom of navigation and commerce" in the region, a reference to the ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed for over six months following joint US-Israel military strikes, and has been developing a toll mechanism with Oman for oil tankers transiting the waterway.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, both sides emphasised resolving regional issues through dialogue and diplomacy while maintaining stability and seafarer safety.
The meeting is part of India's broader diplomatic effort, during its BRICS chairship, to engage member and partner countries with divergent regional interests, including both Iran and the Gulf states.
The Strait of Hormuz — Geography and Global Energy Significance
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow maritime chokepoint separating Iran (to the north) from Oman and the UAE (to the south), connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and onward to the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest point it is only about 21 nautical miles (~39 km) wide, with the designated shipping lanes for inbound and outbound tanker traffic each just a few kilometres across. It is the world's single most important oil chokepoint.
India's call for "freedom of navigation" is a direct response to the Strait's prolonged effective closure, which threatens India's energy imports (India sources a significant share of its crude oil from the Gulf) and global energy prices more broadly.
"Freedom of Navigation" — International Legal Basis and India's Position
Freedom of navigation is a foundational principle of the law of the sea, codified in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), adopted in 1982 and entered into force in 1994. It guarantees states the right to navigate through territorial seas (innocent passage), international straits (transit passage), and the high seas and exclusive economic zones (EEZs), subject to specified conditions.
Key Details
- India ratified UNCLOS on 29 June 1995.
- India's own interpretation of freedom of navigation is nuanced: on ratification, India entered a declaration asserting that foreign military exercises in its EEZ require prior notification or consent — a position that differs from the more permissive US interpretation of high-seas freedoms under UNCLOS Articles 58 and 87.
- "Freedom of Navigation Operations" (FONOPs) are naval patrols (most visibly by the US Navy) conducted to assert this principle against states seen as making excessive maritime claims; India has occasionally been a subject of US FONOPs in its EEZ, given its own consent-based interpretation.
- Straits used for international navigation, such as Hormuz, fall under UNCLOS's "transit passage" regime (Part III), which is more permissive than the "innocent passage" regime applicable to territorial seas generally.
India's invocation of "freedom of navigation" in the Iran bilateral draws on this UNCLOS-based principle, even though Iran (notably) has not ratified UNCLOS and disputes the transit-passage characterisation of the Strait, treating it instead under its own domestic maritime law.
India-Iran Relations — Chabahar Port and the INSTC Corridor
India's engagement with Iran extends beyond crisis diplomacy into long-term connectivity infrastructure. India operates Iran's Chabahar (Shahid Beheshti) Port under a long-term bilateral contract, providing India a Pakistan-bypass route to Afghanistan and Central Asia, and serving as the maritime anchor for the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
India's interest in regional stability in West Asia is not purely about oil transit — sustained tension involving Iran also affects the viability of India's Chabahar-INSTC connectivity investments, giving India a direct stake in de-escalation.
- Strait of Hormuz: narrowest point ~21 nautical miles (~39 km); separates Iran from Oman/UAE.
- Share of global seaborne crude oil trade transiting the Strait: roughly one-third.
- UNCLOS: adopted 1982, in force 1994; India ratified June 29, 1995; Iran has not ratified UNCLOS.
- INSTC: ~7,200 km corridor; founding agreement signed 2000 between India, Iran, and Russia.
- India-Iran Chabahar Port contract: 10-year bilateral operating agreement signed May 2024, India Ports Global Limited and Iran's Ports and Maritime Organisation.
- The Strait of Hormuz has remained effectively closed for over six months as of this bilateral meeting, following joint US-Israel military strikes.