Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron amid concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could spread to other regions.
Prime Minister Modi revealed that he discussed common Indo-French concerns about the evolving situation in West Asia and the need to return to dialogue and diplomacy in a phone call.
He wrote on the
Prime Minister Modi spoke to eight West Asian leaders since the start of the military conflict, before speaking to Macron on Thursday. The phone call also comes a day after the US sank an Iranian naval ship off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday, bringing its conflict with Tehran almost to India’s doorstep.
At least 84 sailors died, and 32 survivors were rescued by Sri Lankan authorities. The ship left India after participating in the international fleet review just a few days ago.
The American-Iranian war
The conflict in West Asia began after the United States and Israel launched joint military strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Following the military attack, Iran carried out a wave of attacks targeting Israeli and US military bases in several Gulf countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
In the past few days, the scope of the conflict has expanded significantly with attacks and counterattacks by both sides. On March 4, the United States bombed an Iranian ship off the coast of Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka Navy said it received a distress signal from the ship at 5:08 a.m. on March 4. There were 180 people on board the Iranian warship.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi condemned the attack and said that Iris Dina was injured “without warning.” Araqchi added in a post on the X website that “the United States will deeply regret the precedent it has set.”
