Houthi advances puts India and global trade closer to the edge

The TOI correspondent from Washington: Rapid advances by Iran-backed Houthis along Yemen's Red Sea coast is bringing the group dangerously close to controlling another key maritime chokepoint in the region, raising fresh concerns from New Delhi to Washington to European capitals in between about the security of global trade, energy supplies, and shipping.Reports from the region on Friday that Houthi forces had reached Perim – or Mayun – Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces withdrew from the strategically located outpost sent alarms in the global strategic affairs community even as the Trump establishment was in the throes of a Republican political fiesta in Dallas.The developments follow the reported Houthi capture of Mocha, a strategically important Red Sea port whose coffee beans infused regions as far apart as Chikmagalur and Seattle.