Ajay Banerjee
New Delhi, Updated At : 08:28 AM Mar 17, 2026 IST
Smoke rises from an area near the Dubai International Airport following a drone attack on Monday. Reuters
Two days after US President Donald Trump proposed a “coalition of navies” to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, the international response has been tepid. India, which currently has three warships positioned outside Hormuz, says it has not held bilateral talks with the US on the proposal.
At a press conference on Monday, Trump renewed his call for other countries to help keep the strait open, noting that the US receives less than 1% of its oil from the passage while countries like Japan and China receive far higher shares — he said Japan gets 95% and China 90%. “We want them to come and help us with the strait,” he said.
Japan has declined the offer, and Australia said it was not asked. Japan and Australia, together with India and the US, form the Quad. Trump also said he wanted to know China’s position ahead of a planned bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping in Paris, and warned NATO could face a “very bad” future if allies did not assist in keeping Hormuz open.
When asked whether India would join a US-led coalition, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “We (India-US) have not yet discussed it in a bilateral setting. We are aware of the matter being discussed by several countries.”
Sources said three frontline Indian Navy warships are stationed in the Gulf of Oman just outside the Strait of Hormuz, escorting LPG shipments. The ships are supported by onboard radar feeds, indigenous satellite links, maritime surveillance aircraft and drones. The Navy also maintains two ships south of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula — one in the Gulf of Aden since 2008 for anti-piracy duties and another in the Gulf of Oman since 2019.
