Jaishankar Meets Iranian Counterpart Javad Zarif

Baku (Azerbaijan), Oct 23 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Ministerial Meeting here and the two leaders discussed issues of mutual and regional interests.

"Catching up with Iranian Foreign Minister @JZarif before the #NAM Ministerial begins," Jaishankar tweeted.

This was their second meeting within a month. They earlier met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session in New York last month.

Their meeting also comes nearly a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in New York during which he reaffirmed India's support for giving priority to diplomacy, dialogue and confidence-building for maintaining peace and security in the Persian Gulf.

India, the world's third biggest oil consumer, meets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs through imports. Iran was its third-largest supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia till recently.

Indo-Iran ties have been on an upswing in the past few years.

Modi visited Tehran in May 2016 with an aim to craft a strategic relationship with Iran and expand India's ties with the West Asia.

During the visit, India and Iran signed nearly a dozen agreements, centrepiece of which was a deal on development of the strategic Chabahar port.

Later, India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a trilateral agreement providing for transport of goods among the three countries through the port.

In February 2018, Rouhani visited India, becoming the first Iranian President to visit India in a decade. During his visit, the two sides signed a dozen agreements.

Jaishankar also met Afghanistan's National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib and had "an in-depth discussion on the challenges facing Afghanistan."

The minister also met his Yemeni counterpart Mohammed A Al-Hadhrami.

"A cordial meeting with Yemen FM Mohammed A Al-Hadhrami. Focused on bilateral cooperation," he tweeted.

Jaishankar had an open and candid conversation with his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah on the outstanding issues.

He also met Myanmar's Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin and they reviewed ongoing cooperation as well as bilateral and regional issues. PTI

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