India, April 9 -- After 40 days of accelerating escalation and expansion of the war in West Asia -- with many red lines crossed -- the two-week ceasefire announced on Wednesday allows breathing space and hope. US President Donald Trump's post threatening civilisational destruction and Iran's response invoking regional annihilation threatened a nuclear-winter-like situation for West Asia and grave economic crisis for the world.

Iran rejected the 15-point US plan but acknowledged it in its statement. The US accepted Iran's 10-point proposal as a workable basis for negotiations and said that "almost all the points of past contention have been agreed to between the US and Iran," but they will now be finalised and "consummated". Iran's demand...