New Delhi, March 16 India does not have a "blanket arrangement" with Iran for the transit of Indian-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz, and "every ship movement is a separate matter," External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Jaishankar said that negotiations between New Delhi and Tehran have resulted in two Indian-flagged tankers passing through the key shipping route.
"I am currently engaged in discussions with them, and those discussions have yielded some results," he said in the interview in Brussels.
"This is an ongoing process. If it is yielding results for me, I would naturally continue to pursue it," he added.
Global oil and gas prices have surged after Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
The West Asia region has been a major source of India's energy procurement.
Jaishankar also denied that India had given Iran anything in return for allowing the ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
"It is not an exchange issue," he said.
"India and Iran have a relationship. And this is a situation that we view as very unfortunate," he said.
"These are still early days. We have many more ships there. So while this is a welcome development, there is ongoing dialogue because there is continued work on that," he noted.