New Delhi: External affairs minister S. Jaishankar and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday (April 29) spoke for the sixth time since the US and Israel launched their war against Iran, with the two leaders discussing the current situation in West Asia as hopes for a second round of peace talks have dimmed.Their phone call also comes ahead of a meeting between the BRICS foreign ministers that is scheduled to take place in New Delhi next month, although neither side mentioned it in their readouts.Jaishankar, who said he received Wednesday’s call from Araghchi, stated on X that they “had a detailed conversation about various aspects of the current situation” and agreed to remain in touch.Iran’s embassy in India said the two ministers “discussed and exchanged views on the latest developments related to the ceasefire, bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues”.As foreign minister of BRICS member Iran, Araghchi has a seat at the meeting scheduled to take place in New Delhi on May 14 and 15, although neither Tehran nor Jaishankar said Wednesday if the two officials discussed his attendance.That meeting would take place on the heels of a conclave of the BRICS deputy foreign ministers and special envoys held in New Delhi this past Friday, where the grouping failed to agree on a joint statement and India instead issued a chair’s statement, highlighting a rift within the bloc where both Iran and the UAE – which Tehran has struck during the war – are members.Iran has called for the grouping, currently under New Delhi’s chairship, to play a “strong” and “constructive” role in addressing the West Asia crisis.Wednesday’s phone call also comes against the background of the continuing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has pinched India’s energy supplies, especially those of LPG, hitting restaurants and migrant workers especially hard.Traffic along the bottleneck remains thin after Iran decided to continue its retaliatory closure of the strait in light of US President Donald Trump’s decision not to lift the US’s blockade of Iranian ports.India has secured the passage of eight Indian-flagged LPG tankers through the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel began their war on February 28, and recently has arranged for record volumes of the gas from the US, Bloomberg has reported citing sources.Araghchi and Jaishankar’s call on Wednesday was also their first after Iranian forces opened fire on two Indian-flagged vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on April 18, prompting the external affairs ministry to summon Iranian ambassador Mohammad Fathali.Although Washington has indefinitely extended its ceasefire with Iran, hopes for a second round of peace talks between the two sides in Islamabad faded over the weekend after Araghchi left the city after meeting Pakistani officials and Trump cancelled the visit of his envoys there.