Desk Correspondent , Gandhinagar - A Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, "Symi," carrying 20,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) arrived at Gujarat’s Kandla Port after successfully navigating the tense Strait of Hormuz. The crucial shipment arrives amid a crippling domestic energy crisis where commercial LPG prices have spiked by over 47%, following supply line chokeholds caused by the escalating US-Iran conflict. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged citizens to use fuel judiciously as soaring costs heavily impact industrial users, migrant workers, and local commercial establishments across the country.

To safeguard national energy security against these persistent West Asian geopolitical disruptions, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have finalized a major long-term LPG supply and strategic collaboration agreement. The pact, signed between Indian Oil Company Limited (IOCL) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), aims to stabilize cooking fuel supplies. This is paired with an additional memorandum expanding India’s strategic petroleum reserves, allowing ADNOC to potentially store up to 30 million barrels of crude oil across facilities in Vishakhapatnam, Odisha, and the UAE's Fujairah.

During a diplomatic stopover in Abu Dhabi, Prime Minister Modi strongly condemned recent attacks on the UAE, emphasizing that a "free, open, and safe" Strait of Hormuz remains India's foremost maritime priority. The strategic alignment underscores India's shift toward dialogue and deeper bilateral energy partnerships to mitigate inflation, even as broader consensus among BRICS nations remains fractured over the West Asia conflict.