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Modi call for ‘peace’ on calls with Iran’s Pezeshkian
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for “peace, stability and prosperity” in West Asia during a call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as the US-Israel war with Iran entered its 22nd day.
In a post on X, Modi said he had “condemned attacks on critical infrastructure in the region, which threaten regional stability and disrupt global supply chains.”
In a reference to the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively shut, leaving hundreds of oil and gas tankers stranded, Modi said he had “reiterated the importance of safeguarding freedom of navigation and ensuring that shipping lanes remain open and secure,”
India relies on Hormuz for a third of its crude oil and nearly two-thirds of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and is scrambling to find alternative supplies.
The Indian Navy is also escorting stranded Indian-flagged vessels through the disrupted strait, which Tehran approves on a case-by-case basis.
The two leaders also exchanged greetings for Eid al-Fitr (the “Festival of Breaking the Fast), which for Muslims on Friday marked the end of Ramadan, Modi wrote.
Trapped at Sea: Indian Seafarers are caught in the Strait of Hormuz standoff
Thousands of Indian seafarers are trapped aboard vessels unable to move through the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most volatile waterways — as the tensions in the Iran war escalate.
Indian seafarers make up about 12% of the global maritime workforce. Recent estimates put the total number of Indian seafarers at over 300.000.
At least 22 Indian-flagged vessels have been stranded near the Strait of Hormuz for weeks caught between rising geopolitical tensions and growing maritime risk.
DW spoke to Captain Virendra Vishwakarma sailing on an LPG tanker in the Mina Saqr area. He has been stuck at sea for over two weeks. The ongoing Iran war has changed a routine journey for him into a daily struggle to stay safe.
“Right now the situation is bad,” Vishwakarma told DW.
He said the sailors on board his ship are facing missiles and drones everyday.
“It is very dangerous in the present scenario to sail on LPG ships within a war zone area, carrying 46 thousand metric tons of LPG. If something happened to the ship, you can understand the scenario. It will be chaotic,” he said, stressing that it would be a “big disaster”.
Some crews have reported dwindling supplies of food, fresh water, and fuel, with no clear timeline for safe passage. While back at home, their families wait anxiously, relying on patchy communication as the crisis deepens at sea.
“Every day my wife and my children come on the video call. I see their faces and they see my face. Every day they ask how are you father. How are you doing?…I don’t have an answer to these questions,” Vishwakarma told DW in an interview that kept cutting off due to the wobbly internet connection at sea.
Earlier this week, DW asked the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi what India was doing to support the seafarers.
This is what foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response:
“We are also trying our best how best we can support them in terms of essentials, so on and so forth. Several seafarers have also come back. For example, the 15 seafarers, some of whom were injured, who were housed in Basra, they have come back to India or will be arriving in India shortly. Similarly, seafarers from other parts of that region have also been coming back. We have a dedicated control room in the Ministry of Shipping where all these questions of the families and all their concerns are being addressed.”
Indian man dies on ship near Strait of Hormuz, family seeks repatriation of body
An Indian merchant navy captain died of a heart attack on a vessel carrying oil near the Strait of Hormuz and the family of the seafarer is now seeking government assistance to bring his body home, Indian media has reported.
Rakesh Ranjan Singh died on March 18 due to cardiac arrest, news agency PTI cited his family as saying on Friday.
The family claimed that Singh’s ship — ‘ASP Avana- RPSL-MUM-172’, owned by a private company — had been stranded about 14 nautical miles off the Strait of Hormuz since February 28, PTI reported, after movement was paralyzed in the region because of the Iran war.
According to Indian media reports, the vessel has remained anchored about 25 to 30 kilometers off the Dubai coast for the last 18 days.
The Indian Express reported that crew members on board the fuel tanker sought an air ambulance after Singh suffered a sudden medical emergency.
The air assistance was reportedly not allowed to fly due to restrictions linked to the security situation in the region.
“He was later taken by boat to Port Rashid in Dubai, where he was declared dead,” Ranjan’s brother Umesh Singh told PTI.
The 47-year-old sailor came from the eastern state of Jharkhand.
Umesh Singh told PTI that the family has written to the state’s Chief Minister Hemant Soren to help bring back his brother’s body.
The Indian Express reported that Singh’s son has also written a letter to the Minister of State for Defence. seeking the government to help in expediting the repatriation of his father’s body.
“My father passed away on board the ship… The procedures are taking considerable time, causing great distress to our family. I humbly request you to direct the concerned authorities to expedite the process,” the Indian Express cited the letter from Pravar Singh as saying.
Delhi wakes up to rare fog in March
A rare March fog blanketed the Indian capital of New Delhi and the surrounding suburbs of Ghaziabad and Noida on Saturday morning after rainfall the previous evening.
The unusual weather conditions were also marked by low temperatures and an improved air quality index (AQI).
On Friday, New Delhi witnessed its coldest March day in six years with a maximum temperature of 21.7 degrees Celsius, official weather data showed .
People in the city also breathed the cleanest air in five months with the AQI in the ‘moderate’ category.
Heavy rainfall has been soaking New Delhi over the last few days.
The rainfall accompanied with gusty winds and thunderstorms also disrupted flight operations in the capital earlier this week.
I, for one, certainly held my breath as I made my way back to New Delhi last evening on a very turbulent flight from Chennai.
India celebrates Eid al-Fitr
Eid al-Fitr celebrations have begun in India as millions of Muslims in the country mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, in which fasting takes place from dawn to sunset.
The Muslim holiday is observed based on the sighting of the crescent moon during Chaand Raat (Night of the Moon), that heralds the beginning of the Islamic month of Shawwal.
Early on Saturday, worshippers gathered in several mosques across India to offer prayers.
In the capital New Delhi, devotees bowed in prayer at one of India’s largest and iconic mosques — the Jama Masjid — and exchanged greetings amid a blanket of an unusual March fog.
The sweet aroma of festive dishes like seviyan (vermicelli pudding) and the lingering fragrance of henna has taken over households as preparations begin for scrumptious family feasts.
Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on different days across the world depending on local moon sightings.
The southern Indian state of Kerala, for example, observed the festival on Friday — a day earlier than the rest of the country.
It all comes down to the traditional practice of looking up at the sky to physically sight the moon.
People in Kerala saw the silver crescent moon on Thursday evening.
On Saturday, Eid greetings also poured in from Indian leaders.
India’s President Droupadi Murmu extended his wishes:
“This festival teaches us the lessons of self-restraint, service, charity, and compassion towards the deprived classes. Let us, on this occasion, resolve to strengthen our society and nation.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said:
“Best wishes on Eid-ul-Fitr. May this day further brotherhood and kindness all around. May everyone be happy and healthy. Eid Mubarak!”
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi posted a video on social media platform X, extending Eid wishes.
India sends emergency medical aid to Afghanistan
India has sent a package containing 2.5 tons of emergency medicine, medical disposables and other medical equipment to Kabul to help in the treatment of the people who were injured in a deadly Pakistani airstrike in the capital city earlier this week.
“India stands in solidarity with the Afghan people and will continue to extend all possible humanitarian support in this difficult hour,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement on social media platform X.
On March 16, the Afghan Taliban officials accused Pakistan of carrying out an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation hospital, killing at least 400 people.
Pakistan denied targeting civilian infrastructure, saying that its “precision airstrikes” were aimed at “military installations and terrorist support infrastructure” in Kabul and the eastern Nangarhar province.
India had earlier condemned the strike, deeming it “yet another act of aggression by a Pakistani establishment that remains hostile to the idea of a sovereign Afghanistan”.
Pakistan declared an “open war” with Afghanistan in February. Clashes between the two sides intensified with cross-border fire and airstrikes striking deep in the Afghan territory, including Kabul.
A pause on strikes is currently being observed by Pakistan and the Taliban government in Afghanistan on account of Eid al-Fitr. The halt in fighting is scheduled to last until midnight on Monday.
In recent years, India has recalibrated its Afghanistan policy marked by a thaw in its relations with the Taliban regime. The shift also comes amid the souring ties between the Afghan Taliban and India’s arch rival Pakistan.
India does not recognize the Taliban government, but restored the status of its technical mission in Kabul to that of an embassy last year.
India has also been the largest regional provider of humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Kabul in the pre-Taliban years.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/india-news-new-delhi-sends-medical-aid-to-afghanistan/live-76462474
