INDIA PERSPECTIVE

India is following the Iran-US negotiations with growing concern. Trump's public and preemptive rejection of the Iranian plan before formally reviewing it is seen in New Delhi as a bad sign for a rapid resolution of the Hormuz crisis.

For India, which is massively dependent on Gulf oil and LNG transiting through the strait, any prolongation of the blockage represents a direct economic cost. The rare transit of an Indian LPG tanker on May 2 provided temporary relief, but New Delhi cannot count on Iranian grace passages for its long-term energy needs.

India notes that Iran's 14-point plan includes the gradual reopening of Hormuz as the first phase priority — exactly what New Delhi wants. The nuclear question is secondary in India's priority order. Both Washington and Tehran seem prepared to reopen Hormuz in the short term ('Project Freedom' and the Iranian plan), but the nuclear impasse risks blocking any broader agreement.