India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reassured the Indian public that the government was monitoring the situation in the Middle East and that the safety of Indian nationals was its priority, amid criticism.
Farmers protest US-India trade deal
Indian farmers are calling out the government’s decision to strike a deal with the US, which they believe has resulted in the rise in oil prices amid the ongoing US-Israeli war in Iran.
Hundreds of famers staged a demonstration in the Indian capital on Monday to pressure the government to guarantee minimum crop prices.
Farmers’ groups and trade unions have called for nationwide protests on March 10 to oppose the military conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran.
Farmers’ party, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and a central trade union (CTU), which is a national-level federation representing workers across various sectors and industries, have said that demonstrations will be held across the country.
Trade unions have urged the public to observe the day as “Anti-Imperialist-War Day for World Peace.”
India’s opposition protest response to Iran war
India’s opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, held demonstrations outside Parliament, carrying a banner that read, “India needs leadership, not silence.”
The protest centered on India’s stance on the ongoing war in Iran, which has begun to affect the Indian economy. Many Indians are also left stranded in conflict zones in the Gulf region.
The opposition is demanding a parliamentary discussion over rising fuel prices and the economic fallout of the escalating Middle East crisis.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said, “We deem these important and want a discussion… But they [ruling party] do not want a discussion because other things will come out of that, because the PM’s position will come out of it.”
“How much loss would the West Asia crisis cause?” he said, adding, “PM Modi has signed the deal with the US. The country is going to suffer a major blow.”
India allowed three Iranian ships to dock at its ports, Jaishankar tells parliament
Iran had asked India for permission to dock three of its vessels at Indian ports, a request that the Indian government agreed to, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told parliament.
“The Iranian side had requested permission on February 28 for three ships in the region to dock at our ports. This was accorded on March 1,” Jaishankar said.
He added that the government believed that it was the “right thing to do.”
“The crew is currently in Indian naval facilities and we believe this was the right thing to do, and the Iranian foreign minister has expressed his country’s thanks,” he added.
Iranian warships were in regional waters as part of an international naval exercise hosted by India last month.
Jaishankar’s statement comes against the backdrop of opposition criticism and questions over India’s role after a US submarine sank Iran’s IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean as it was returning from India’s biannual MILAN-2026 naval exercise.
India ‘making every effort to bring back Indians from Iran’
Addressing Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament on Monday, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the Indian Embassy “has facilitated the relocation of several Indian students in Tehran to places outside.”
Around 10 million Indians live and work in the Gulf nations, including a “few thousand Indians in Iran, who are there for study or for employment,” he said.
He said that the Indian Embassy in Tehran had issued an advisory in February, urging Indian nationals, including students, pilgrims, businesspersons and tourists to leave Iran by all available means of transport, including commercial flights.
“Contacts with Iran at the leadership level are obviously difficult at this time; I have spoken to the Iranian foreign minister,” he said adding that “for those who are stuck in the region, those who are transit passengers, those who need to come back urgently from this region, we are making every effort for them to do so.”
Indian markets crash amid oil price surge
The Indian stock market has sunk to its lowest level since April 2025, when US President Donald Trump had first announced reciprocal tariffs.
The sharp dip in stock indices on Monday comes amid war in the Middle East that started after the US and Israel launched strikes in Iran on February 28.
The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex fell more than 2,400 points (around 3%) in early trade, while the Nifty 50 dropped almost 700 points.
The escalation in the Middle East and strikes on Iran’s oil depots have resulted in a steep rise in crude oil prices , which crossed the $115 (€99.57) mark per barrel for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
The rising crude oil prices also resulted in a fall in value of the Indian rupee. It hit a record low of 92.528 against the US dollar.
India opposition demands a plan amid sharp rise in oil price
India’s parliament commenced the second part of the budget session with the opposition demanding a discussion on the geopolitical crisis posed by the war in Iran.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, “As the Parliament reconvenes for the second part of the Budget session, the US-Israel war with Iran has reached our backyard.”
“The government must come out with a detailed contingency plan to ensure our energy security, assist our traders, diversify supply chains for our exports and stop penalizing our people with price hikes,” he added.
India’s Jaishankar reassures Indian public as crisis deepens in Middle East
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar addressed parliament regarding the ongoing war in Iran and said that “this ongoing conflict is an issue of particular concern for India.”
He said that developments in the Middle East were a matter of deep concern. “We believe, and we continue to believe, that dialogue and diplomacy should be pursued to de-escalate tensions and address underlying issues,” he said.
“It is also imperative that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states in the region be respected,” he added.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/india-news-fm-jaishankar-briefs-parliament-on-iran-war/live-76271974
