India hosts Iran’s deputy FM to push Eurasian link

India hosted Iran’s deputy foreign minister on Wednesday amid a bid to boost connectivity and political ties days after external affairs minister S Jaishankar hosted his counterparts from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Syria.

“Pleased to receive Iranian deputy foreign minister for political affairs@Bagheri_Kani. Discussed our bilateral cooperation, regional issues and JCPOA,” Jaishankar tweeted following his meeting with Kani.

India’s Connectivity to Eurasia via INSTC and Chabahar Port figured high on the agenda of the meeting, said people aware of the matter. Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam are also keen to use the Chabahar Port to push trade ties in the region. INSTC is a key tool that has pushed India-Russia trade since last March.

Iran has strong ties with Syria and its ties with the UAE have improved.

Kani’s visit comes within months of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden summit with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand. India is also keen to revive energy imports from Iran.

Iran’s entry into the SCO will boost India’s Eurasian outreach, ensuring seamless coordination between India and Iran and Eurasian states besides Russia, said the people. Iran will be present at the SCO summit hosted by India in mid 2023.

India has also said that entry of Iranian oil in the market will address global energy security to some extent.

There has been a flurry of engagements between India and Iran this year, with a focus on strengthening connectivity mechanisms, especially INSTC and Chabahar Port.

Iran is central to India’s plan to increase engagement with Russia and Central Asia, besides the rest of Eurasia. Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan are reportedly entering into a trilateral arrangement to smoothen functioning of the INSTC.

Iran’s exports to India increased 35% year-on-year to $361 million in the first seven months of 2022, bulk of which were food items.

In the January-July period, India’s exports to Iran surged 54% year-on-year to $1.243 billion.

In late May, the then Iranian ambassador to India said the two countries are trying to diversify the channels of payments to expand bilateral trade.

India is expanding its maritime partnership with Iran alongside the recent moves to boosting infrastructure in the strategically located Chabahar Port. The two sides have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Mutual Recognition of Seafarer’s Code of Conduct for Unlimited Voyages coinciding with a visit of ports, shipping and waterways and Ayush minister Sarbananda Sonowal to Iran. This will result in training exercises of Iranian seafarers in India.

The MoU will open new vistas of cooperation in the Western Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as both India and Iran are IOR states, said people aware of the matter. India is eyeing a trilateral maritime cooperation involving Oman and Iran in the long run.

The Iranian government is also ready to conclude a long-term contract with India, prioritising the development of transit of goods through the Chabahar port. This contract will also aim at ramping up activities of the INSTC.

Sonowal had visited the Shahid Beheshti terminal at the Chabahar Port to hand over six mobile harbour cranes to the Indian Ports Global Chabahar Free Trade Zone at the port. During the visit, the two countries decided to form a joint technical committee for the smooth functioning of the port.

The Chabahar Port is likely to act as a catalyst for unlocking the huge trade potential in the region. India has pitched to link the port with the INSTC for optimum use by the Central Asian states and other Eurasian states. The corridors are expected to provide an option parallel to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. There are also plans to link the INSTC with the Northern Sea route via the resource-rich Russian Arctic. India is also pitching to connect Chabahar Port with Southeast Asia and East Asia.  (Economic Times)