India Urges Restraint As West Asia Tensions Escalate

A day after assaults on commercial shipping escalated into an exchange of fire on Iranian and US military targets, India on Wednesday said that it is “deeply concerned” over the recent attacks and “escalation of tensions” in West Asia which underlines regional peace and security.

Delhi’s statement came hours after US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday that the US was preparing for another night of strikes, just hours after he said the ceasefire was over because of Iranian attacks.

This also came at a time when External Affairs minister S Jaishankar is visiting Kuwait, as part of his visit to four West Asian countries including Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain.

The Ministry of External Affairs said, in a statement on Wednesday, “India is deeply concerned over the recent attacks and escalation of tensions in West Asia, which have followed fresh targeting of commercial shipping transiting international waterways in the region.”

“These developments risk undermining regional peace, security and stability,” it said.

It said that India calls upon all parties to “exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, and ensure protection of civilians as well as the uninterrupted flow of energy supplies and commerce”.

“We urge the parties to return to dialogue and diplomacy to achieve a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict,” MEA said.

After three tankers were hit Tuesday, the US launched strikes on Iran, and Iranian forces retaliated by attacking American military sites in the Gulf.

Negotiations to reach a final deal had been due to start after the dayslong funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28 in the war’s first moments.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is visiting four Gulf countries, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman — which have been impacted by the war in West Asia since February 28. This is part of his six-nation tour from July 5 to 15, in which he will also travel to the US and Belgium.

All these Gulf countries have hosted American military personnel and have bases and military facilities for decades and have been attacked by Iran, as a retaliatory response against the US and Israeli military offensive that began in February.

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More