S Jaishankar To Travel To UAE This Week, 1st Visit Amid Iran War

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar will be travelling to the UAE this week, the first such visit by an Indian minister since the beginning of the Iran war and the Middle East crisis, sources said.

According to sources, Jaishankar will visit Mauritius and the UAE between April 9 and April 12.

He will first visit Mauritius for the Indian Ocean Conference (IOC), and then the UAE, sources said, adding that energy security is at the top of the agenda.

The announcement of his travel comes hours after the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, with President Donald Trump accepting Tehran's 10-point conditions and calling them "workable". 

India welcomed the ceasefire, saying it will "lead to a lasting peace" in the Middle East.

"As we have continuously advocated earlier, de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy are essential to bring an early end to the ongoing conflict. The conflict has already caused immense suffering to people and disrupted global energy supply and trade networks. We expect that unimpeded freedom of navigation and global flow of commerce would prevail through the Strait of Hormuz," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

The war began on February 28 when the US and Israel carried out coordinated airstrikes across Iran after stalled nuclear talks and claims that Tehran had resumed its nuclear activities. The strikes, named 'Operation Epic Fury', targeted many Iranian cities and killed many top leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family members. Iran had since then launched retaliatory strikes, many of which have damaged Gulf regions, including Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Bahrain. It also shut the Strait of Hormuz passage for shipping - which they have now agreed to reopen with a charge.

Sergio Gor in US

Sergio Gor, the US Ambassador to India, who is in the United States, attended a dinner at the White House on Tuesday night with Donald Trump - hours before the US President announced a ceasefire with Iran.

According to Gor, he and Trump discussed US-India ties. He also praised Trump's efforts in securing global stability and the future of India-US ties.

"Just had an outstanding dinner with President Trump. We discussed his unwavering determination to bring global stability, the historic achievements of his presidency, the strong future of India-US ties, and so much more! A very memorable evening as history unfolded in real time," he wrote in a post on X.