Indian Minister in Tehran to Bolster Bilateral Ties
Indian Minister in Tehran to Bolster Bilateral Ties
India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar yesterday met with Iran's Foriegn Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran. Jaishankar had made stopover in Iran as part of his key Moscow visit. Calling the meet "productive", the EAM tweeted, "Discussed strengthening our bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments. Thank him for his gracious hospitality."

Indian Minister in Tehran to Bolster Bilateral Ties

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

TEHRAN – India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar yesterday met with Iran’s Foriegn Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran. Jaishankar had made stopover in Iran as part of his key Moscow visit. Calling the meet “productive”, the EAM tweeted, “Discussed strengthening our bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments. Thank him for his gracious hospitality.”

This is the 2nd time any top Indian minister is visiting Iran within a week. Defence minister Rajnath Singh had visited Iran over the weekend while coming from Russia and meet with Iran’s Defence Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami.

During the meeting Zarif, Jaishankar discussed mutual cooperation and ties in a meeting in Tehran.

In this meeting also the latest regional and global development was reviewed by two top diplomats.

After the meeting, Zarif wrote on his Twitter account, “Pleased to host my Indian counterpart @DrSJaishankar in Tehran for talks today. Discussed expansion of bilateral relations and trade, and exchanged views on important regional issues.”

He also tweeted about the meeting, saying “active engagement with our neighborhood is our top priority”.

Meanwhile Jaishankar also tweeted, “A productive meeting with FM @JZarif during a stopover in Tehran. Discussed strengthening our bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments. Thank him for his gracious hospitality.”

The meeting was planned some time ago, when Jaishankar confirmed his participation at the SCO meeting. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who had also gone to Moscow last week, had made a stop in Iran on his return.

According to Indian media, China and Iran are on the verge of signing an economic and strategic agreement worth $400 billion, but India wants to ensure that the Chabahar project in the West Asian country doesn’t see any Chinese involvement.

This was among the reasons why  Jaishankar, who was travelling to Moscow Tuesday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s foreign ministers’ meeting, made a stopover in Iran’s capital Tehran to meet his counterpart Zarif.

The China-Iran agreement, which will overshadow the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, is set to include a major port development project on the Strait of Hormuz. India is concerned that the deal is set to be signed at a time when it hasn’t been able to complete the Chabahar Port project due to the stringent American sanctions imposed on Iran, diplomatic sources have said.