Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday left for Iran on a two-day official visit. Rouhani will also host a lunch for the Indian Premier.
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His major engagement tomorrow consists of restricted talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, delegation- level talks, signing of agreements between both nations.
Modi said that priority would be given to enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people-to-people contacts.
PM Modi’s visit is expected to see India and the Persian Gulf nation working on enhancing economic partnership that includes a possible deal on developing the strategic Chabahar port.
“India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region”, he said.
“India and Iran have always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the hard times. Documents on Exim Bank’s line of credit to Iran including for the port will be signed as well”, he said.
India is also looking to import more oil from Iran and develop a gas field there. It will also cut transport costs and freight time for India to Central Asia and the Gulf by about a third. Our public and private sectors are keen to invest in Iran. “Matters pertaining to restoring effective banking channels in the post-sanction phase will also be discussed”, he sad.
On impending meetings with Iranian leaders, Modi said: “Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important nation in the region and one of India’s valuable partners”. Discussions between the two leaders will cover these aspects and provide guidance for regular consultations between the two countries at various levels in these and related areas such as cyber crime and maritime security. In 2012 Iran was India’s second-largest crude supplier but oil exports subsequently fell.
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In 2012, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a visit here to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit could not visit the gurudwara, but his wife Gursharan Kaur paid her respects there.
