Jaishankar, French counterpart discuss Iran, Hormuz at G7 meet

Jaishankar attends G7 in France to discuss West Asia crisis and maritime security, focusing on de-escalation efforts.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in France on a two-day visit to represent India as a partner country at the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven) advanced economies. The Minister held bilateral talks with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot in Abbaye des-Vaux-de-Cernay on Thursday (March 26, 2026), which included an “in depth” discussion on West Asia as per the French government’s readout of the meeting.

The two Ministers “agreed to continue their close coordination with a view to working jointly towards ensuring the security of the Strait of Hormuz,” the readout said. The meeting comes just after Israel claimed to have killed Iranian commander Alireza Tangsiri, who Israel said was directly responsible for the closing of the Strait.

The participation of Mr. Jaishankar in the G7 meetings signified “the importance France attaches to closely associating India — currently holding the BRICS presidency — with its G7 presidency”, the French government said.

The Ministers welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the G7 Summit, scheduled for June 15-17 in Évian, France and underscored India’s contribution to the G7’s work on addressing major macroeconomic imbalances and improving international partnerships, as per the readout.

Front and centre of the G7 agenda this week is the war in Iran and its impact on global energy and stock markets. Discussions on the Russia-Ukraine war and the reform of multilateralism are also on the cards.

“We will work to bring about a new international order and to build a more balanced and fairer system, underpinned by a renewed multilateralism. Reforming global governance and combatting cross-cutting threats require a collective commitment which extends beyond G7 members alone,” Mr. Barrot said in a statement.