NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday termed the conflict in West Asia as a cause of “great concern” and “deep worry”, even as he said that in a globalised world, a conflict anywhere actually creates problems everywhere.He said this in response to a query during an interaction after he delivered the Sardar Patel Lecture on Governance organised by IC Centre for Governance here.Jaishankar’s remarks come in the backdrop of escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict and Israel-Hamas war.”The conflict (in West Asia) is widening. What we saw as a terrorist attack, then the response, then we saw what happened in Gaza, now we are seeing it in Lebanon, exchanges between Israel and Iran.The Houthis firing in the Red Sea, this is actually costing us,” he said. Jaishankar said it is not that somebody is neutral in a conflict and you benefit. “Shipping rates have gone up, insurance rates have gone up, export foreign trade being affected, oil prices have gone up. Day before yesterday the markets tanked after the Iranian missile attack,” he said.The minister said the conflicts can be “opportunistically used, I don’t deny that, but, in a globalised world which is so tight, conflict anywhere actually creates problems everywhere. Some supply of some kind will get affected by this”.Honestly, today, whether it is the Ukraine or the Middle East (West Asia) conflict, these are “big factors of instability, big factors of concern”, Jaishankar said. “The entire world, including us are worried about it, and we are trying to see, where we can make a difference, and do what we can,” he added.Iranian Ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi, on Friday said New Delhi as a “big power” and “voice” of the Global South can play an “active role” in the de-escalation of conflicts in West Asia.In an exclusive interview to PTI, the envoy said Iran hopes that “India uses its influence and capabilities for de-escalation”. On the recent military operations from the sides of Iran and Israel, he said, “According to our assessment, launching missiles at Israeli military bases and intelligence installations was intended to send a clear message to Israel. We believe this strike successfully hit the territory”.
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