Rouhani:

Iran-India Cooperation to Forge Regional Security, Stability

TEHRAN (defapress)- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi on Saturday underlined the need for broadening of mutual cooperation between the two countries in a bid to help strengthen security and stability in the region.

News ID: 68720

Date: 17 February 2018 - 14:18

"Strengthening of Iran-India cooperation on regional issues can reinforce the pillars of security and stability in the entire region," President Rouhani said during the meeting with Swaraj in the Indian capital today.

The Iranian president reiterated that Tehran considers no restrictions to cooperation with India, and will welcome any initiative that might help the two countries expand their relations.

Rouhani started his visit of India at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an initial stop in the southern city of Hyderabad on Thursday, arrived in the capital, New Delhi on Friday night.

The Iranian president is heading a political and economic delegation, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and a number of representatives from the Iranian private sector.

Prime Minister Modi and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind formally welcomed President Rouhani on Saturday during a ceremony featuring celebratory gunfire at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the country’s presidential palace, in the Indian capital.

Rouhani and Modi and the two countries’ ranking delegations are to hold talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi later in the day.

While he was in Hyderabad city the Iranian president met with a group of elites, religious clerics, and leaders of the Muslim community there. He then joined Friday prayers at Hyderabad’s Makkah Masjid.

Non-oil trade between Iran and India reached $4.74 billion in the 12 months that followed March 2016, up by 4.17% compared to the same period in the previous year.

Iran is India’s third oil supplier. India imported 12.5 million tons of crude from the Islamic Republic in the period running from April 2017 to October 2018.

India, Iran, and Afghanistan have signed an agreement to give Indian goods heading toward Central Asia and Afghanistan preferential treatment and tariff reductions at the Chabahar port city in southern Iran.

The Indian government has committed $500 million to developing the Chabahar port, with an aim to join an increasingly important transport corridor to resource-rich regional countries.

Modi visited Iran in May 2016, the first by a person in his capacity in 15 years.