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2 min readNew DelhiApr 18, 2026 05:38 AM IST
INDIA ON Friday welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and said it welcomes every step towards peace. A 10-day ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump and agreed on by Lebanon and Israel appeared to be holding in Lebanon on Friday, even as talks are underway to extend a lasting truce between US and Iran — brokered by Pakistan.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon… India welcomes every step towards peace.” On Pakistan’s role in mediation between US and Iran, he said, “We are closely following all developments in the West Asian region.” The spokesperson said India was participating in the meeting called by the UK and France, on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are hosting the meeting Friday to push forward plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Macron’s office said the summit gathered about 50 nations and international organisations, including more than 30 heads of state and government.
In a post on X ahead of the meet, Macron said the mission to provide security for shipping through the strait would be “strictly defensive”, limited to non-belligerent countries and deployed “when security conditions allow”.
Starmer said, “The unconditional and immediate reopening of the Strait is a global responsibility, and we need to act to get global energy and trade flowing freely again.”
Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More
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