Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on social platform X on Tuesday (April 14th) that US President Trump called him that day to emphasize the importance of maintaining the openness and security of the Strait of Hormuz.
Indian media first reported the call, stating that the conversation between the two leaders lasted nearly 40 minutes.
“We received a call from my friend President Trump. We reviewed the substantive progress made in bilateral cooperation in various fields,” Modi wrote on X, “We are committed to further strengthening our comprehensive global strategic partnership in all areas. We also discussed the West Asian situation and emphasized the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure.”
At the end of the post, Modi tagged @POTUS and @realDonaldTrump, the latter being Trump’s personal account. Following his return to the White House, Trump’s statements on the “Truth Social” platform often sync with X platform.
This is the first dialogue between the US and India leaders since the ceasefire announced by the US and Iran on April 8th. Prior to this, the two leaders had a conversation on March 24th, also initiated by Trump calling Modi. The call took place after the US and Israel launched “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran on February 28th, marking the first communication between the two sides after the war with Iran. Trump had temporarily suspended warnings of strikes against Iran’s energy facilities, instead announcing the start of negotiations.
The Strait of Hormuz is a vital passage for global energy supply, through which 20% of the world’s oil and most of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) transit.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had previously blocked the strait by deploying mines, drone attacks, and seizing oil tankers passing through, imposing high “tolls” on ships from non-allied countries, causing a surge in global oil and natural gas prices, severely affecting India’s domestic cooking gas (LPG) supply stability.
In response to Iran’s actions, the Trump administration adopted a “block the blockers” strategy starting Monday (April 13th), ordering the US Navy to intercept all ships paying illegal fees to Iran or entering and leaving Iranian ports, aiming to cut off Iran’s economic lifeline. Earlier, the marathon peace talks held in Pakistan between the US and Iran for 21 hours ultimately collapsed, as Iran rejected the “final and best solution” of completely abandoning its nuclear weapons program.
During Trump and Modi’s call, it was reported on Monday that two Indian oil tankers carrying Iranian crude were forced to anchor due to the strait blockade.
The “Indian Express” analyzed that despite Trump’s imposition of a 50% reciprocal tariff on India causing a temporary strain in the economic and trade relations between the two countries, this call indicates efforts to stabilize the relationship.
Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has maintained intensive contact with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently; Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also met with the US national security team during his visit to Washington D.C. last week.
Rubio is expected to visit India next month, and preparations are underway for the “Quad” foreign ministers’ meeting in the second half of May, where energy security and regional stability will be core issues.