India's POV of Houthi attacks on Red Sea; Know about all about it here
The Houthis are an armed group from the Zaidis, a sub-sect of Yemen’s Shia Muslim minority. They now control most of Yemen.
The United States and the United Kingdom carried out military strikes on a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen. The development comes months after the Iran-backed radical Islamist outfit targeted international commercial ships including a US ship in the Red Sea.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden said, “Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces—together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.”
“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea—including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history. These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” he further added.
To understand the issue, we need to first understand Who are Houthis?
The Houthis are an armed group from the Zaidis, a sub-sect of Yemen’s Shia Muslim minority. They now control most of Yemen. The Houthis have been fighting a civil war since 2014 against Yemen’s government. The govt is getting help from a coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but the Houthis enjoy domestic support and the assistance of Iran and Hezbollah. They declare themselves to be part of the Iranian-led “axis of resistance” against Israel, the US and the wider West. It considers itself to be an ally of Hamas and Hezbollah.
What is the issue?
Reportedly, there have been 27 attacks on international commercial ships by the Houthi movement, affecting m
ore than 50 nations. The US President informed that the Houthis had taken crews belonging to more than 20 nations as hostages.
The series of attacks resulted in the diversion of over 2000 ships in the Red Sea. The United States and the United Kingdom reportedly carried out air and naval strikes at anti-ship missile and drone factories in Yemen, controlled mostly by the Houthi movement.
Why Houthis are attacking ships?
The rebel group has been carrying out sporadic attacks on ships in the region over time but the strikes increased since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The militant group declared their support for Hamas, saying that they would target any ship travelling to Israel. But few of their targets have had direct links to the Jewish nation.
The attacks by the Houthi rebels further spiked after an explosion on 17 October at a Gaza hospital that killed and injured many. After the blast, an intense militant campaign started against US bases in Iraq and Syria and on several commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea.
How this is affecting the trade?
A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released in November 2023. Houthi Military Media/Handout via Reuters The attacks have affected commercial ships and forced international shipping companies to divert their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.
Could the strikes lead to a wider conflict in West Asia?
The strikes are an indication of growing international concern over the threat to one of the most critical water routes in the world.
The Red Sea is used to transport 15 per cent of the world’s shipping traffic and most of the world’s oil and gas comes from the region. The Houthi attacks have hit trade flow and if the crisis continues, the rise in the cost of oils and goods is likely to affect consumers.
India role
Though the Indian Navy has deployed its warships in the central and the northern Arabian Sea to help merchant vessels in case of any attack on them, New Delhi decided to stay away from the international coalition put together by the navies of the United States and the United Kingdom in the wake of the strikes by the Houthis in the Red Sea.
The United States has welcomed the "increased cooperation" with India in defending freedom of navigation in the Red Sea as the two countries discussed "shared concerns" over the reckless Houthi attacks in the region.
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