As the world grapples with the Strait of Hormuz crisis, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday recalled the Suez crisis in 1956 and how the then Indian envoy to the UN VK Krishna Menon was at the centre of the diplomatic effort to resolve it, even succeeding admirably but only for a while.
Ramesh also recalled that after the invasion of Egypt was halted in early November 1956, a UN Emergency Force was stationed along Sinai and Gaza on the Egypt-Israel border which was drawn from ten countries, including India.
"The world is grappling with the Strait of Hormuz crisis. 70 years ago, it grappled with what is known as the Suez crisis," Ramesh said on X.
"On July 26 1956, President Nasser of Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal. This created a huge furore in the West and war clouds loomed. The man at the centre of the diplomatic effort to resolve the crisis was none other than VK Krishna Menon. He succeeded admirably but only for a while," Ramesh recalled.
On October 29, 1956, UK, France, and Israel launched an invasion of Egypt but they had to abort it humiliatingly in a few days after a furious US President Dwight Eisenhower intervened, the Congress leader said.
"Ironically, this was the same man who three years earlier had approved the joint US-UK operation to overthrow the democratically elected PM of Iran Mohammed Mosaddegh, who had nationalised the oil industry there," Ramesh pointed out.
After the invasion of Egypt was halted in early November 1956, a UN Emergency Force was stationed along Sinai and Gaza on the Egypt-Israel border, he said.
"This Force drawn from ten countries (including India) was active till early June 1967. Its Commander from Dec 1959 to Jan 1964 was Lt. Gen PS Gyani, and from January 1966 to June 1967 Maj. Gen Inder Jit Rikye led it," Ramesh recalled.
Nehru himself had addressed the Indian contingent at the Gaza Strip on May 20, 1960, he said.
The six-day war followed immediately after the departure of the UN Emergency Force, Ramesh noted.
Ramesh also shared pictures of Menon with Nasser, Antony Eden, and Selwyn Lloyd during his hectic diplomacy.
The recollections come at a time the world is grappling with the Hormuz Strait crisis.
Amid fears of a global energy crisis, a small number of ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil normally travels.
Iranian strikes on commercial ships in and around the strait have slowed shipping to a trickle, dramatically increasing oil prices and pressuring Washington to do something to ease the pain for consumers and the global economy.
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