Tehran: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday gifted Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei a specially commissioned reproduction of a rare seventh-century manuscript of the Holy Quran attributed to Hazrat Ali, the fourth caliph.


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Written in Kufic script, this manuscript is a prized possession of the Ministry of Culture’s Rampur Raza Library.

The PM also gifted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani a specially commissioned reproduction of Mirza Ghalib’s collection of poetry in Persian, “Kulliyat-e-Farsi-e-Ghalib”, as also Sumair Chand’s Persian translation of Ramayana.


First published in 1863, Kulliyat-e-Farsi-e-Ghalib is a collection of over 11,000 verses by Ghalib. The reproduction is from a rare copy of the book’s 1867 edition to which some missing pages have been added from a copy of the 1872 edition from Maulana Azad’s personal collection preserved in the library of Indian Council for Cultural Relations in New Delhi. 


On the other hand, translated into Persian in 1715 and copied in 1826, Sumair Chand’s Ramayana is a rare manuscript at the Ministry of Culture’s Rampur Raza Library, and contains over 260 illustrations – possibly the largest number in any hand-written Ramayana manuscript, a statement on PM Modi's personal website said.





Meanwhile, a 'milestone' pact on the strategic Chabahar Port in southern Iran which will give India access to Afghanistan and Europe bypassing Pakistan was among the agreements signed here today by India and Iran which also agreed to cooperate on combating radicalism and terror.


Besides the bilateral pact to develop the Chabahar port for which India will invest USD 500 million, a trilateral Agreement on Transport and Transit Corridor was also signed by India, Afghanistan and Iran, which PM Modi said could "alter the course of the history of the region".


The bilateral agreements signed by India and Iran after detailed discussions between PM Modi and President Hassan Rouhani included one on setting up of an aluminium plant and another on laying a railway line to give India access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. 


The agreements, aimed at further deepening India-Iran ties in diverse fields, covered areas of economy, trade, transportation, port development, culture, science and academic cooperation.


(With Agency inputs)