Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif arrives India for three-day visit

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (January 15). Zarif will further deliberate on regional issues with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar over breakfast after which he will visit Mumbai to interact with a group of business leaders.

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New Delhi: Iran`s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Tuesday arrived India amid tensions growing between his country and the US post the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and the retaliatory Iranian missile strikes on US bases in Iraq.

Zarif will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (January 15). On Thursday, Zarif will further deliberate on regional issues with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar over breakfast after which he will visit Mumbai to interact with a group of business leaders.

After Soleimani`s killing in a US drone attack in Baghdad on January 2, Iran on January 8 launched a missile attack on an air base in Iraq housing US troops, sparking fears of a wider conflict and leading countries that have good relations with Tehran and Washington to mediate in a bid to ease tensions.

On Thursday, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with US counterpart Mark Esper to discuss the developments in the Gulf and shared "India`s stakes, interests and concerns".

Esper, who called the Indian Defence Minister to discuss the prevailing situation in the Gulf region, briefed him about the recent developments in the region.