India-Iran Relations / Foreign Minister said in Iran - Attack on ships is a matter of concern, deal with it immediately

India-Iran Relations: Foreign Minister S. During his visit to Iran, Jaishankar on Monday described the attacks on ships around India as a matter of grave concern for the international community and said that such threats have a direct impact on India's energy needs and economic interests. Jaishankar issued a joint press statement after talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdullahiyan.

In this, the Foreign Minister said that recently the threats to the security of maritime commercial traffic in this important part of the Indian Ocean are increasing significantly. He stressed that it is vital that the issue be dealt with urgently, amid the targeting of commercial vessels in the Red Sea, one of the busiest trade routes, by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister

Actually Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar met Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdullahian on Monday and their discussions focused on India's participation in the strategically important Chabahar port and the North-South Connectivity Project. Jaishankar is on a visit to Iran as part of the ongoing high-level dialogue between the two sides. He also met the President of Iran Dr. Ebrahim Raisi and conveyed the good wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jaishankar wrote in a post on X that, today there was a discussion with Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdullahian in Tehran. Our talks focused on the long-term framework for India's engagement with the Chabahar Port and the INSTC Connectivity Project. He also talked about maritime attacks in the region and stressed that the issue should be resolved swiftly.

Air strikes on Houthi positions

America and Britain have carried out air strikes targeting Houthi positions in Yemen. India is closely monitoring the emerging situation in the Red Sea. This issue was raised in the phone conversation between Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last Thursday. Jaishankar said after the meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister that other issues on the agenda were Gaza, Afghanistan, Ukraine and BRICS cooperation.

Foreign Ministry, Islamic Republic of Iran tweets, "Iran's FM: Today, I hosted Indian FM Dr S Jaishanka, we held talks over the latest regional and international developments, especially the Zionist regime’s genocide & crimes against Palestinians. We discussed the expanding… pic.twitter.com/aBwWl5YlIs

— ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2024

Later, he met Iranian President Raisi and informed him about his fruitful discussions with Iranian ministers. Jaishankar said that he is honored to meet the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Ibrahim Raisi. Iran's news agency said they also discussed regional and international developments.

Discussion on chabahar port

Earlier on Monday, Jaishankar started his program by meeting Roads and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bajrpash in Iran. During the meeting, both sides had detailed and meaningful discussions on establishing a long-term cooperation framework on the strategically important Chabahar port. Jaishankar also held talks with Bajrapash on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

Major center of INSTC project

India is pushing for the Chabahar port project to boost regional trade, especially for its connectivity with Afghanistan. At a connectivity conference in Tashkent in 2021, Jaishankar had projected the Chabahar port as a major regional transit hub, including with Afghanistan. Chabahar Port is also seen as a major hub for the INSTC project.