EAM S Jaishankar meets Iran's FM, discusses strengthening bilateral cooperation and reviews regional developments

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that he discussed strengthening India's bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments after meeting Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran. The EAM had made a stopover in Iran as part of his key Moscow visit. 

Calling the meeting "productive", the EAM, taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, said "discussed strengthening our bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments. Thank him for his gracious hospitality." Javad Zarif had visited India in 2020 to be part Raisina Dialogue. 

"A productive meeting with FM J Zarif during a stopover in Tehran. Discussed strengthening our bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments. Thank him for his gracious hospitality," tweeted Jaishankar.

EAM will be reaching Moscow later on Tuesday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meet. India, Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are part of the SCO grouping. Iran is an observer member of the grouping.

This is the second time any top Indian minister is visiting Iran within a week. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had visited Iran over the weekend while coming from Russia and met with Iran's Defence Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami. During Rajnath Singh's visit, Afghanistan and regional security were discussed in over one hour long bilateral.

A productive meeting with FM @JZarif during a stopover in Tehran. Discussed strengthening our bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments. Thank him for his gracious hospitality. pic.twitter.com/Ec9sqO5I6U — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 8, 2020

The high-level visits by India to Iran are been considered as a major reached out by New Delhi to a country it considers part of its extended neighbourhood. Iran plays an important role in India's connectivity project via Chabahar port that provides it link to Afghanistan and wider Central Asian region.