Iran's Deputy FM Visits India to Enhance Cooperation on Trade & Security

Amid the current unrest in the Middle east, Dr. Takht Ravanchi, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Iran, is scheduled to visit India today. He will engage in discussions with his Indian counterpart in New Delhi.

As per the officials, the agenda for the discussions encompasses boosting bilateral trade in both energy and non-energy sectors, enhancing connectivity and tourism, tackling regional and international security concerns, and deliberating on the completion of the Chabahar Port project.

Iran's state news agency IRNA on Wednesday, announced that the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Public Relations Office has confirmed that the 19th round of political discussions between Iran and India will take place in New Delhi on Thursday & Friday.

India and Iran have a history of interactions that spans thousands of years. The two nations entered into a friendship treaty on March 15, 1950.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Iran and the signing of the Tehran Declaration in April 2001, followed by President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami's visit and the signing of the New Delhi Declaration in 2003, bolstered the cooperation between India and Iran.

According to the Indian Embassy in Tehran, the two documents outlined areas of collaboration and established a strategic vision for the India-Iran partnership.

The bilateral relations were further boosted by the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iran in May 2016. During the visit, a joint statement titled "Civilizational Connect, Contemporary Context" was issued, and 12 MOUs/Agreements were signed.

The Trilateral Agreement on Trade, Transport and Transit between India, Iran and Afghanistan was also signed during the visit. President Rouhani visited India in February 2018, during which a joint statement titled "Towards Prosperity Through Greater Connectivity" was issued. The two sides signed 13 MOUs/Agreements during the visit.

In 2011, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar visited Iran, followed by a visit from the Speaker of Majlis, Dr. Ali Larijani, to India in 2013, marking two high-level parliamentary exchanges between India and Iran.

Prime Minister Modi and President Raisi had their first meeting on the margins of the SCO Heads of State Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in September 2022, where they reiterated their dedication to bilateral collaboration, particularly in trade and connectivity.

They also convened on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in August 2023.