Separately, a trilateral Transport and Transit Agreement with participation of Iran, India and Afghanistan, “will open new routes for India, Iran and Afghanistan to connect among themselves”, Modi said.
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The first Indian prime minister to visit the Islamic nation in the last 15 years, Modi was received at the Mehrabad International Airport here by Iran’s finance and economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, a after which he left for a local Gurudwara to meet people of Indian origin here.
The agreement is expected to be signed by the leaders of the three countries as the Indian Prime Minister and President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani are due to visit Tehran.
In 2003, Iran and India agreed to develop the Port of Chabahar. “Considering that both countries have an important port like Chabahar, we can have vast cooperation”.
The long due Chabahar port agreement, which stalled on account of global sanction on Iran in 2006, has finally seen the light of the day after more than a decade of being on the table.
“The two countries’ economic relations could be much broader than the past, and today the administrative officials of the two countries decided that the bilateral ties turn into comprehensive economic relations from mutual trade ties”, Rouhani told the press conference. “On behalf of 1.25 crore Indian, I extend warm greetings to the people of Iran”.
The Union government announced on Friday, 20th May 2016 that India will be signing the port contract during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Iran, which is scheduled to begin Sunday, 22nd May.
Modi and Rouhani discussed trade, energy and strategic ties. “Our dosti is as old as history”, PM Modi said.
Ahead of his departure from New Delhi, Modi tweeted that he looked forward to his visit to Iran at the invitation of President Rouhani.
The Chinese project, coming on top of investments in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives raised uneasiness in India about China’s expanding reach in the region and provoked faster movement on the Iranian project.
The Prime Minister has also been invited by the Speaker of the US House of Representative Paul Ryan, to address a joint meeting of the US Congress. We have shared interest in peace, stability and prosperity of the region.
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Indian refiners have cleared part of the $6.4 billion owed to Iran for crude oil imports in euros through Turkey´s Halkbank, three sources privy to the payment said on Saturday.
