The Indian PM Narendra Modi, for his part, voiced satisfaction towards Iran’s hospitality on behalf of Indian people and thanked the Iranian President for receiving him and his accompanying delegation.
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“The bilateral agreement to develop the Chabahar port and related infrastructure, and availability of about Dollars 500 million from India for this objective, is an important milestone”, said Modi.
Chabahar in South-East Iran will help skip Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has developed close security ties and economic interests.
Iran’s energy resources, as well as India’s rich mineral reserves enable the two countries to cooperate in various industries, added Rouhani.
Later he is also scheduled to meet supreme leader and Ali Khameni.
“It is my pleasure that my 2-day visit to Iran has started with me seeking blessing from Guru Granth Sahib”, Modi said, speaking at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Tehran.
He will also visit a gurdwara in Tehran and inaugurate an worldwide conference on “India-Iran: Prospects and Retrospects”.
“Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority”, he said in a tweet.
-At the Teheran airport, PM Modi was received by Iran’s Finance Minister Ali Tayyebnia.
“We spend 45,000 crore rupees annually on urea subsidy and if we can manufacture it in the Chabahar free trade zone and move it through the port to Kandla and onward to the hinterland, we can save that amount”, he said.
Speaking to local news channels, Modi mentioned the importance of the two countries signing the Chabahar port agreement. It has been aggressively pushed in the past one year, leading to signing of the agreement for phase-1 today, Gadkari said. “Documents on Exim Bank’s line of credit to Iran including for the port will be signed as well”, he said.
The prestigious Chabahar Port project was visualized during the NDA regime, though it hibernated for quite long, mainly due to the slapping of worldwide sanctions against Iran.
Pakistan has also been eyeing the Chabahar port.
Modi’s visit would be an important marker in Iran and India’s relations, Nourian said.
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Another MoU was signed between School for International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran and the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of India. “India and Iran also share a crucial stake in peace, stability and prosperity of the region”.
