External Affairs Minister of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visits Iran:
External Affairs Minister was on a two-day visit to Iran between December 22-23, 2019. During his visit, he chaired the 19th Joint Commission Meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Highlights
The leaders at the Joint Commission Meeting agreed to Strengthen and accelerate the Chabahar project. The visit comes after the US has provided a narrow exemption to India from sanctions. The US had earlier imposed sanctions on Iran for its accumulation of nuclear weapons. India has been exempted as the project intends towards the development of Afghanistan.
The Minister also met the Iranian President. The President expressed satisfaction in the operationalization of Shahid Beheshti port as well.
Shahid Beheshti port
Chabahar is the only port of Iran. It consists of two separate ports namely Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti. India and Iran agreed to develop Shahid Kalantari port in 2003. However, it was dropped following sanctions on Iran. The project was again taken up in 2016. Under the agreement, India will construct a 600-meter-long container handling facility at the port. India has already begun its operation at the port in 2016.
Other Discussions
India and Iran also agreed to celebrate their 70th anniversary of the bilateral treaty of friendship in 2020. The countries will promote people-to-people contact, organize cultural festivals, youth exchanges and also exchanges between Parliamentarians
Background
India and Iran signed the “Chabahar Project” in 2017. It is an 85 million USD project that aims to develop Chabahar port in south-eastern Iran. The Chabahar port is an alternate route for trade between India and Afghanistan. The land route through Pakistan from India to Afghanistan is not accessible.
The project is also seen as a counter to the Chinese Gwadar port in Pakistan.
Note:
Minister of External Affairs (India)
The Minister of External Affairs (or simply Foreign Minister) is the head of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most offices in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Foreign Minister is to represent India and its government in the international community. The Foreign Minister also plays an important role in determining Indian foreign policy. Occasionally, the Foreign Minister is assisted by a Minister of State for External Affairs or the lower-ranked Deputy Minister of External Affairs.
India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, also held the Foreign Minister post throughout his 17-year premiership of the country; he remains the country's longest-serving Foreign Minister. Several other Prime Ministers have since held the additional charge of foreign minister, but never has any other cabinet minister held additional charge of the office. There have been a number of Foreign Ministers who went on to become the Prime Minister like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, P. V. Narasimha Rao and I. K. Gujral.
The current Minister of External Affairs is Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, succeeding Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party on 30 May 2019
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