Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 09:42am on 19 Dec 2023,Tuesday Defence
India has deployed two guided-missile destroyers, INS Kochi and INS Kolkata, off the coast of Aden to boost naval security in the Arabian Sea region. This comes as the US announced a coalition of nations to protect commercial ships from Iran-backed Houthi attacks in the Red Sea near Yemen. Along with the Houthi threat, piracy by Somali groups also endangers vessels in the area, with the recent hijacking of a Maltese ship. Disruptions to the key Red Sea transit route could severely impact global oil supplies and prices. India's naval presence intends to enhance overall maritime security amid heightened tensions that threaten critical shipping lanes. Any major assault on commercial vessels could have far-reaching economic consequences due to heavy reliance on oil imports via this passage.
