NEW DELHI: Amid rising tensions in West Asia and concerns over supply disrutions through the vital Strait of Hormuz, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the war will have far-reaching consequences, adding that India must prepare for long-term impact.
“Another major challenge of the war is that summer is beginning in India. In the coming days, with rising temperatures, the demand for electricity will increase. Currently, adequate coal stocks are available at all power plants across the country,” the Prime Minister said.
He drew a parallel between the COVID-19 pandemic and the current geopolitical situation because of the war in the Middle East, saying elements such as black marketeers and hoarders try to take advantage of such crises and urged all political parties and governments to stay united.
The Prime Minister was addressing the Lok Sabha on the Middle East conflict and the challenges it has created for India. Advising state governments to stay alert, he said that elements such as hoarders become active during such crises, and strict monitoring and swift action are required to tackle this menace. “Because of this war, the difficult global situation may continue for a long time. Therefore, we must remain prepared and stay united. We have faced such challenges before as well by staying united during the Coronavirus pandemic. We must remain very careful and alert. Some people will try to spread rumours to take advantage of the situation. We must not allow such people to succeed,” he said.
“All agencies responsible for ensuring law and order have been put on alert, including coastal security, border security, and cyber security,” the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister made another COVID-19 mention while speaking about food security.
“A big question is how the war will impact farming? The country’s farmers have filled our granaries, so we have adequate food supplies. It is also our attempt to ensure a smooth harvest in the kharif season. In the past, too, our government did not let global problems burden the farmers,” he said.
“Following the Covid pandemic and subsequent wars, fertiliser prices soared in the international market, leading to severe shortages. Despite these challenges, the central government made every possible effort to prevent a crisis in India. While a bag of urea costs Rs 3,000 internationally, our government provided it to farmers for only Rs 300. To make this possible, the government spent more than Rs 12 lakh crore in subsidies,” he said.
In his statement, PM Modi addressed concerns related to the impact on fuel, fertilisers, national security and other areas in India as well on its nationals residing in the West Asia region, detailing steps taken by the government to ensure that “ordinary families face as little trouble as possible”, and said a unanimous voice should go out to the world from India’s Parliament on this crisis.
Reaffirming India’s unwavering commitment to humanity and peace, the prime minister said the dialogue and diplomacy remain the only path to resolution and every Indian effort is directed at de-escalation and the cessation of hostilities.
Informing the House that he has engaged with all relevant West Asian leaders and urged them to reduce tensions and end the conflict, Modi emphasised that attacks on commercial ships and obstruction of international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world’s energy is transported, are”wholly unacceptable”.
On India’s diplomatic response to the West Asia conflict, he said India’s stand has been clear from the very beginning, when the US and Israel attacked Iran and the latter retaliated by targeting its Gulf neighbours and Israel, “one of expressing deep concern, advocating de-escalation, and opposing attacks on civilians and on energy and transport infrastructure”.
“India, through diplomacy, is making continuous efforts for the safe passage of Indian ships even amidst the war environment. Due to such efforts, several of our ships that were stuck in the Strait of Hormuz have also arrived in India in recent days,” he said.
He said all security agencies have been placed on alert and that security across all domains, coastal, border, cyber, and strategic installations, is being further strengthened.
This region is important to India for yet another reason, as nearly one crore Indians live and work in the Gulf countries and among the commercial ships that sail in these seas, the number of Indian crew members is also very high, he said.
He informed the House that India has expanded its energy import sources from 27 countries to 41 countries over the past 11 years, thereby reducing dependence on any single region.
Emphasising the foresight of this approach, Modi said in today’s circumstances, the steps taken over the past decade regarding energy security have become even more relevant.
Modi said India has more than 5.3 million metric tonnes of strategic petroleum reserves, and the country is also working on arrangements for more than 6.5 million metric tonnes of storage.
Apart from this, he said, there are reserves held by the domestic oil companies.
“In the last 11 years, our refining capacity has increased significantly, and the government is in constant touch with suppliers from different countries. The effort is to ensure that oil and gas supplies continue from wherever possible,” he said.
Highlighting the scale of the evacuation effort, the Prime Minister said more than 3,75,000 Indians have safely returned to India since the war began, including approximately 1,000 Indians from Iran alone, of whom over 700 are young medical students.
Addressing the broader economic ramifications, Modi acknowledged that energy is the backbone of the modern economy and that West Asia is a major source for global energy needs, making the current crisis a challenge for economies worldwide.