After six weeks of brutal war in West Asia, a temporary ceasefire brokered by Pakistan was welcomed by India in an official statement, in which the Indian government also expressed hope that the ceasefire will bring lasting peace in the region. The Indian government stressed that the conflict has caused great suffering to the people and disrupted global energy supply and trade networks, and said it expected unimpeded freedom of navigation and global commerce in the Strait of Hormuz. “As we have repeatedly argued earlier, de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy are critical to an early end to the ongoing conflict,” the MEA said in a carefully worded statement. Going further, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal expressed hope that developments in West Asia would also encourage peace efforts in Ukraine.“India has always been in favor of peace. We welcome all steps that bring peace and stability,” he said. President Donald Trump and Iran both credit Pakistan with playing an important role in the breakthrough but have not formally acknowledged Pakistan’s key intermediary role. However, official sources said India views this development, Iran’s commitment to open the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week ceasefire, as a potential catalyst for progress in long-term peace talks in the region. Pakistan Prime Minister Sherbaz Sharif announced that Islamabad will host talks between the United States and Iran starting on April 10. In addition to ensuring the safety of the 10 million Indian expatriates in the Gulf, India’s top priority over the past few weeks has been ensuring safe passage of its LPG tankers through key energy routes to prevent supply disruptions. However, as a ceasefire could result in Islamabad gaining greater international legitimacy, India will be wary of any negative repercussions from a downgrade in its ties with Pakistan. India maintains that Pakistan is the source of global terrorism and refuses to engage Islamabad unless it takes concrete and irreversible action against groups responsible for cross-border terrorism. Trump also suggested after the ceasefire that China could also play a role in peace talks by urging Tehran to engage with the United States. However, for India, despite its close ties with both parties and being an important stakeholder in the Gulf, active mediation is not an option due to its decades-long disdain for third-party mediation, especially in its relationship with Islamabad, where India has always emphasized bilateralism. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed this at an all-party meeting last month, saying India, unlike Pakistan, has no history of acting as a middleman between countries. He mentioned Pakistan’s role in facilitating secret secret talks between China and the United States in 1971.
