India-Iran Joint Commission to Meet in December
According to an IRNA reporter, Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesman Navtej Sarna disclosed the information during a press briefing on the ongoing visit of Mohsen Aminzadeh, deputy foreign minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs to India.
As part of the growing high-level contacts between the two countries, Sarna further announced that the Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) Manohar Joshi is likely to visit Iran in October with a reciprocal visit from the Iranian interior minister as well as chief of judiciary to India soon.
Sarna said that the Iranian deputy foreign minister held talks with Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal Monday morning which continued over lunch and thereafter called on Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha. Monday evening he met National Security Advisor and Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra.
The Iran-India Joint Committee on the transfer of Iranian gas to India is expected to meet soon, Sarna said, adding that members would examine the status of the feasibility studies conducted on the possible gas transfer.
On the visit of the Iranian deputy foreign minister, he said Aminzadeh had extensive discussions with the foreign secretary lasting 5-hours as part of the 3rd round of strategic dialogue between India and Iran. This dialogue was initiated after the 2001 visit of Prime Minister Vajpayee to Iran, he added.
He said discussions reflected the confidence and strategic orientation of bilateral relationship and also covered Afghanistan and Iraq.
On Afghanistan, Sarna said the two sides shared concerns over the security situation in that country and reports of regrouping of Taliban and Al Qaeda with support from outside.
On Iraq, Sarna said both countries shared perspectives on the situation.
The Indian foreign minister, during the meeting, reiterated that New Delhi is ready to contribute to the restoration of infrastructure as well as to the medical, health, educational, communication and other civilian needs of the Iraqi people. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs Mohsen Aminzadeh, while addressing an interactive meeting with Indian businessmen and exporters, said: "The issue of the North-South transport corridor between India, Iran and Russia is one of the most important field for development of regional cooperation."
In the business meet organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI), he said construction of the Chabahar-Milak-Zaranj-Dilaram highway with the cooperation of Iran, India and Afghanistan is taking place within the framework of development and construction of transport and transit infrastructure.
Aminzadeh said the strategic cooperation of Iran and India in the field of transit and transport would enter an infrastructural phase with the development of Chabahar Port and the construction of the 600-km-long Chabahar-Fahraj railway line that will link this port to the nationwide railway and road network of Iran that will also establish a link between the countries of Central Asia and Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, Russia and Turkey. He said those projects have provided a good opportunity for "export of engineering and technical services."
Also, A.K.Srivastava, chairman of Indian Section of India-Iran Joint Business Council (IIJBC) said Iran has emerged as India's potential gateway to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe. In his welcome address to the India-Iran joint business meet at the presence of Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Srivastava noted that "India and Iran are working together to develop transport corridors from India to these destinations through Iranian territory."
Srivastava said that both FICCI and its counterpart, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines are working towards drawing up business plans.
The plans lay for creating the edifice for sustainable and balance trade not just in commodities but a diversified portfolio, he said.
Touching on the recent visit of Indian Oil Minister Ram Naik to Tehran, Srivastava said complementarity of interests between both countries in the energy sector should be developed as a strategic area of their future relationship. He said, "Iran with its abundant resources and India with its growing energy needs as a rapidly developing economy are natural partners."