Jaishankar told the Financial Times that India believed dialogue offered a better path than escalation.
“Certainly, from India’s perspective, it is better that we reason and we co-ordinate and we get a solution than we don’t,” he said. “So, if that sort of allows other people to engage, I think the world is better off for it.”
The comments come as US President Donald Trump urged countries including the UK and China to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help reopen the route.
The tensions have already pushed energy prices higher. Brent crude – the international benchmark used to price much of the world’s oil trade – rose close to $106 a barrel on Monday.
Jaishankar told FT that India’s engagement with Iran was based on its own bilateral relationship and might not apply to other countries. “Each relationship frankly, in a way, stands on its own merits,” he said.
He denied that India had offered anything to Iran in return for the passage of the two Indian tankers. “It’s not an exchange issue,” he said, adding that India and Iran had a longstanding relationship.
He cautioned that the situation remained uncertain, with several Indian ships still waiting in the region.
“These are still early days,” he said. “We have many more ships there.”
Follow BBC News India on Instagram, external, YouTube,, external Twitter, external and Facebook, external.
