India continues outreach amid Iran war, Jaishankar holds talks with Australian, Kazakh & Bangladesh officials

India’s outreach amid the US-Israeli war on Iran continued on Friday as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Kazakh Ambassador Azamat Yeskarayev, and Bangladesh High Commissioner Riaz Hamidullah.

While Jaishankar held a call with Wong, he met Yeskarayev and Hamidullah in person in Delhi.

Following his call with Wong, Jaishankar said on X that they discussed the situation in West Asia and shared their assessments.

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Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been holding frequent calls with their counterparts in partner nations as the US-Israeli war on Iran has created an oil and gas shortage, sent oil and gas prices soaring, and disrupted supply chains.

After his meeting with Yeskarayev, Jaishankar said they “discussed taking forward our partnership”. Separately, he said that the conversation with Hamidullah was focussed on advancing our bilateral ties.

The engagements today came after Jaishankar held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Gidon Saar on Thursday. In that call, Saar had emphasised Israel’s appreciation for its “special strategic partnership” with India and briefed on the status of the war.

Jaishankar on Thursday also met UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy in Delhi. The visit was notable as the UAE is in the thick of the war as Iran has subjected it to the fiercest bombardment among Arab countries. The fact that she made the visit despite such a state of affairs at home highlights the nature of India-UAE ties.

Notably, Modi has also held talks with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the midst of ongoing West Asia crisis.

Separately, Modi on Thursday held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman about the West Asia crisis.

Since the beginning the conflict, India has maintained contacts with all sides, including Iran. Jaishankar has held at least four rounds of talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Araghchi and Modi has held talks with President Masoud Pezeshkian.

As a result of these talks, India has reached an understanding with Iran for the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz that otherwise remains blocked.