US President Donald Trump spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, US envoy Sergio Gor said. Their conversation focused on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East (or West Asia), “including the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open”, as per Gor's X post.
PM Modi wrote on X: “Received a call from President Trump and had a useful exchange of views on the situation in West Asia. India supports de-escalation and restoration of peace at the earliest. Ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains open, secure and accessible is essential for the whole world. We agreed to stay in touch regarding efforts towards peace and stability.”
The conversation comes at a time when Donald Trump has raised hopes that the US-Israel war on Iran could be winding down. Trump on Monday said his government was already holding “productive” talks with Tehran; and he extended, by five days, his deadline on striking power plants over Iran's chokhold on the key oil shipping route Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials have said that Trump had backed down “following Iran’s firm warning", but there were mixed signals from Tehran on whether talks were actually on.
PM Modi had also spoken with President Masoud Pezeshkian over the weekend, though details were not shared on a proposal, if any, for mediation.
India's unfriendly neighbour Pakistan has emerged as one of four countries reportedly mediating between Washington and Tehran; the other three being Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt.
Earlier on Tuesday, PM Modi told Parliament that he's been in regular contact with several Gulf countries and the US. and had advocated a solution through dialogue.
"Since the start of the war, I have held two rounds of phone conversations with the heads of state of most countries in West Asia. We are in continuous contact with all the Gulf countries, and we are also in touch with Iran, Israel, and the United States," PM Modi said.
"Through diplomacy, India is trying to ensure safe commutation of the country's ships even in a war situation. India has opted for a solution through dialogue to resolve this issue," PM Modi added.
The Prime Minister said that it was India's priority to ensure safety of the large Indian diaspora in the Gulf.
At an inter-ministerial briefing, Rajesh Sinha, special secretary in the Indian ministry of shipping, clarified that there was no permission being sought to cross the Strait of Hormuz. "It is an international strait. Permission was not required before. It is not required even today. You definitely assess the situation as to how the safety will be, how one should move, at what time one should move, but still, it is not that permission is required from anyone," he said.
Where war stands now amid ‘talks’ and claims
The death toll in the war, which began after US and Israel launched airstrikes on Tehran on February 28, has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran; more than 1,000 in Lebanon; 15 in Israel, and 13 US military personnel, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people have been displaced in Lebanon, as Israel has widened its military action saying it's striking Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.
While Iran may have denied any talk for the record, American news outlet CBS cited an unnamed senior Iranian foreign ministry official as saying that Tehran has “received points from the US through mediators and they are being reviewed”.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has been discussing the conflict with some of his counterparts since Monday, his office has confirmed. He has spoken to officials from Azerbaijan, Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and Turkmenistan.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who emerged as a likely representative from Iran’s side, still said no negotiations have taken place as of Monday. A former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Ghalibaf even alleged that Trump’s remarks were aimed at manipulating financial and oil markets.
