India, April 8 -- The Indian government has welcomed the two-week ceasefire reached between the US and Iran, giving a temporary relief to the region that witnessed an eruption of a severe crisis on February 28.

In a statement, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said: "We welcome the ceasefire reached and hope that it will lead to a lasting peace in West Asia. As we have continuously advocated earlier, deescalation, dialogue and diplomacy are essential to bring an early end to the ongoing conflict."

The MEA said the conflict has already caused immense suffering to people and disrupted global energy supply and trade networks.

"We expect that unimpeded freedom of navigation and global flow of commerce would prevail through the Strait...