NEW DELHI: India has stepped up diplomatic outreach amid the escalating conflict in West Asia, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar holding urgent consultations with key Gulf partners and travelling to Europe for high-level talks. Jaishankar spoke late on Saturday with Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, and Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, to discuss the rapidly evolving situation in West Asia as hostilities between Iran and the United States intensify. “Discussed ongoing developments related to the conflict in West Asia,” Jaishankar said in a social media post on Sunday following his conversation with the Saudi minister. Prices have surged after Iran effectively blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz — a narrow shipping corridor connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman — through which around 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies transit. The disruption has heightened concerns in major import-dependent economies such as India, which relies heavily on energy supplies from West Asia.

Source: Indian Express March 15, 2026 16:04 UTC