Geopolitical realignment: India’s potential role in Strait of Hormuz security reflects shifting power dynamics in West Asia’s energy corridors
Original framing: “India expected to be among the countries invited to join initiative to secure Strait of Hormuz: French sources” — The Hindu
The Strait of Hormuz has been a flashpoint since the 1956 Suez Crisis, when Western powers first framed it as a 'vital' corridor for oil transit. The 1980s Iran-Iraq War saw the strait become a battleground for proxy conflicts, a pattern repeated in the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and subsequent sanctions regimes. The current initiative echoes Cold War-era alliances, where Global South states were coerced into joining Western-led security frameworks under the guise of 'stability.'
The potential inclusion of India in a Western-led Strait of Hormuz security initiative reflects a deeper systemic shift in global energy geopolitics, where chokepoints are increasingly militarized to secure fossil fuel flows amid US-China rivalry.
This framing obscures the historical patterns of Western intervention in West Asia, from the 1956 Suez Crisis to the 2003 Iraq War, and ignores the indigenous and marginalized voices that have long resisted such securitization. A cross-cultural perspective, drawing on traditions like *ubuntu* and Sufi poetry, reveals alternative models of maritime governance that prioritize collective well-being over control. The solution pathways—regional governance frameworks, energy transition, Track II diplomacy, and environmental assessments—offer a systemic path forward, but they require challenging the entrenched interests of transnational energy corporations and NATO-aligned security structures. Without this, India’s engagement risks entrenching a neocolonial energy security paradigm that perpetuates conflict and environmental degradation.