Earlier this morning, he was given a guard of honour in the presence of President Hassan Rouhani.
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The development of Chabahar port, located just over 70 km from Gwadar, will allow India to circumvent Pakistan and open up an alternative land-sea route for its trade with Afghanistan.
Modi will arrive in Iran’s capital Tehran on May 22 in a bid to spruce up bilateral ties with the Islamic republic by signing major economic cooperation agreements.
Elaborating on the agenda for his meetings with top Iranian leadership, Modi said, “Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important country in the region and one of the India’s valuable partners”.
The prime minister’s visit comes four months after the sanctions on Iran were lifted and the global community is re-engaging with the nation.
Modi had earlier said the lifting of sanctions had opened up enormous opportunities and India was looking to expand cooperation with the Persian Gulf nation in sectors such as trade, investment, infrastructure and energy.
The day after his meeting with the US President, Modi will address US Congress, a rare opportunity granted to few foreign leaders, US House speaker Paul Ryan said in a tweet.
-At the Teheran airport, PM Modi was received by Iran’s Finance Minister Ali Tayyebnia.
He also said Iran and India will enhance cooperation in establishing regional peace and stability, as well as fighting terrorism.
“My Iran visit is starting with the blessings before the Guru Granth Sahib at this gurudwara”.
President Ashraf Ghani is expected to sign the trilateral agreement with the Indian and Iranian leaders.
The MoU, signed by Arun K. Gupta, Managing Director, IPGPL, and Ebrahim Yaseri, Managing Director of Arya Banader, will be counter signed by Alok Srivastva, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping of India, and Saeednejad, Chairman of Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran.
-India will help develop the port, investing in the first phase around $200 million to develop terminals and cargo berths at Chabahar.
On Monday, he was accorded a ceremonial welcome as he met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for talks to deepen trade, investment and energy ties.
Modi had last visited the U.S. in September 2015 following Obama’s trip to India as the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations early past year.
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Iran, Gadkari said, has cheap natural gas and power that Indian firms are keen to tap in order to build a 0.5 million tonne aluminium smelter plant as well as urea manufacturing units.
