Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Indo-Iran talks were substantive and productive' that was published in Newsband

Indo-Iran talks were substantive and productive

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited India. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India and Iran signed agreements and memorandums of understanding on a wide variety of issues.

Iran awarded India the contract to operate the Chabahar Shahid Beheshti port terminal after the project is completed. There were discussions on enhancing trade and investment and ease of doing business between India and Iran. India announced it would allow Indian investment in Iran to be done in rupee terms like in Bhutan and Nepal,

Modi called the talks “substantive and productive”, and thanked Rouhani for his leadership on regional connectivity. Rouhani endorsed India’s bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council with the veto, and praised India as a “living museum of religious diversity”. There were tough language used on the “sanctuaries for terrorism”,

The visit came amid uncertainty over the U.S.’s next move on Iran, given the Trump administration’s line on the Iran nuclear deal. India, while dealing with Iran, must maintain ties with the U.S. and its recently upgraded relations with Israel.

Iran is a key source of energy, India, Iran have a common stance on combating terrorism through culture and the exchange of information and experience, The two sides deliberated on a range of pressing bilateral, regional and international issues but did not disagree on even a “single topic”. The issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir figured in the deliberations.

There will be stepping up of cooperation in a number of key areas including oil and gas as well as on crucial connectivity projects like development of the Chabahar port. There was also a great deal of discussion on facilitating economic relations, preferential trade tariffs, better banking relations, visa relations and facilitating travel between the two countries for business purposes,

The two pledged to work for peace and stability of both the countries. It was decided that the various issues of the region, especially in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, would be resolved through political initiatives,

India, Iran inked nine pacts after ‘substantive’ talks between Modi and Rouhani. This shows how the two sides want to deepen cooperation in key areas, including connectivity. Both the sides discussed in detail the threats posed by terrorism, drug trafficking and other challenges.