West Asia crisis: EAM Jaishankar speaks to Israeli counterpart
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New Delhi (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday spoke to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa'ar and discussed various aspects of the West Asia crisis amid a US naval blockade of Iran's ports.
The external affairs minister also held a phone conversation with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and exchanged views on the situation arising out of the war between Iran and the US-Israel combine.
After his call with Jaishankar, Sa'ar said Iran's action harming freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz requires "action".
"Had a telecon this afternoon with Israel FM @gidonsaar. Our discussion covered different aspects of the West Asia situation," Jaishankar said on social media.
The phone conversation between the two foreign ministers came amid reports of efforts by the US and Iran to hold a fresh round of negotiations after the collapse of the initial dialogue in Islamabad.
"We discussed Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and Lebanon. I said that the firm American stance in the negotiations on conditions that would prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons (no enrichment in Iran, removal of enriched material from Iran) is critical for the entire international community," the Israeli foreign minister said.
He pressed for freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz for all countries, including India.
The call came amid increasing global concerns over the US naval blockade of Iran's ports. The US action came in response to Iran partially blocking the flow of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Global oil and gas prices surged after Iran restricted the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
West Asia has been a major source of India's energy procurement.
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Rupee gains 20 paise to 93.15 against US dollar in early trade
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Mumbai (PTI): The rupee recovered 20 paise to 93.15 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, backed by lower levels of crude oil prices and a weak American currency amid hopes of resuming US-Iran peace talks.
Investor sentiment turned positive after US President Donald Trump said that a second round of talks with Iran could be held "over the next two days".
The latest remarks, which came days after the two sides failed to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict in West Asia, led to a sharp decline in crude oil prices, boosting the risk appetite for market participants, forex analysts said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 93.19 against the US dollar and gained further, trading at 93.15 against the greenback in early deals, up 20 paise from its previous closing level.
On Monday, the rupee weakened by 52 paise to settle at 93.35 against the US dollar. The forex market was closed on Tuesday on account of Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was marginally higher by 0.04 per cent at 97.95.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.57 per cent up at USD 95.33 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the stock markets witnessed a steep surge in the morning trade. The 30-share Sensex jumped 1162.04 points or 1.51 per cent to 78,009.61, while the Nifty climbed 348.65 points or 1.46 per cent to 24,191.30.
Foreign Institutional Investors were net sellers on Monday and offloaded equities worth Rs 1,983.18 crore, according to exchange data.
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