India, April 23 -- Britain and France are gathering military planners from about 30 countries to flesh out details of a mission to provide security in the Strait of Hormuz - if and when the key shipping route reopens.

Britain's Defence Ministry said the two-day meeting at a UK command-and-control centre in London aims to "turn diplomatic consensus into a detailed military plan".

The plan is for an international mission to protect merchant vessels, clear mines and provide reassurance, and is dependent on a "sustainable" ceasefire being reached in the US-Israeli war with Iran. Countries, including France and the UK, have pledged to send ships and mine-clearing drones.

Despite scepticism that the plan will ever be put into action, British...