Gaza, Chabahar Port, Attacks on Commercial Ships: What EAM Jaishankar Discussed With His Iranian Counterpart

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran and discussed various issues ranging from India’s involvement with Chabahar port, the Gaza war and attacks on commercial ships.

Jaishankar, who is in the Iranian capital as part of the ongoing high-level exchanges between the two sides, also called on Iranian President Dr Ebrahim Raisi and conveyed the greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India’s Involvement in Chhabar Port

In a joint press conference, Jaishankar said the two leaders discussed the prospects of energising the International North-South Transport Corridor. “In particular, we discussed India’s involvement in the development and operation of the Chabahar port, a joint project with a joint vision of connectivity,” he said, adding, “I reiterated India’s interest in benefiting from Iran’s unique geographical position to access markets in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Eurasia.”

Palestine Issue

Jaishankar further reiterated India’s long-standing support for a two-state solution where the Palestinian people are able to live freely in an independent country within secure borders. “On the issue of Palestine, let me reiterate India’s long-standing support for a two-state solution where the Palestinian people are able to live freely in an independent country within secure borders. I stressed on the need for all parties to avoid provocative and escalatory actions and to facilitate movement towards dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.

Gaza Humanitarian Crisis

The EAM also stated that perspectives and assessments on certain regional and global issues and developments were exchanged in the meeting, stressing that the “visible humanitarian crisis needs to be addressed”.

“We also exchanged perspectives and assessments on certain regional and global issues and developments. Both of us are concerned about recent events in West Asia, which some call the Middle East, and we emphasised the importance of preventing further escalation of violence and hostilities…India has a longstanding and uncompromising position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. This remains so…The deeply concerning situation in Gaza was naturally a subject of our discussions. There is a visible humanitarian crisis that needs to be addressed, and the creation of sustainable humanitarian corridors is the need of the day. We welcome the international community’s efforts in that direction. India itself has delivered shipments of relief material to Gaza…” Jaishankar said.

Attacks on Commercial Ships

Jaishankar also spoke about threats to maritime shipping in the region and said that this issue must be “speedily addressed”, in an apparent reference to the targeting of merchant vessels in the Red Sea by Iranian-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Further, stressing “people-to-people contacts”, Jaishankar noted that the government of India has decided to include Farsi as one of the nine classical languages of India in our New Education Policy.

The foreign minister then expressed condolences on the recent terrorist attack in Kerman and said, “This visit gave me an opportunity to personally convey our condolences to my counterpart on the recent terrorist attack in Kerman. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to President Raisi in this regard as well.”

“Held wide-ranging discussions today in Tehran with Iranian FM @Amirabdolahian.Our bilateral discussion focused on the long-term framework for India’s involvement with Chabahar port and the INSTC connectivity project. Also spoke about threats to maritime shipping in the region. Important that this be speedily addressed,” Jaishankar wrote in an X post.

Other issues on the agenda were the Gaza situation, Afghanistan, Ukraine and BRICS cooperation, the EAM added.