India has sent warships and stepped up aerial surveillance in strategic Gulf waters, the Press Trust of India reported on Thursday, with global tensions rising in the region. "INS Chennai and INS Sunayna have been deployed in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to undertake maritime security operations," the navy said, quoted by PTI.
The aim is "to re-assure the Indian-flagged vessels operating/transiting through the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, following the maritime security incidents in the region," the navy said. "Aerial surveillance by IN aircraft is also being undertaken in the area," India's navy said, according to PTI. India's ambassador to Washington said in May that his energy-hungry nation had ended all imports of oil from Iran, in response to threatened US sanctions.