Had A Very Fruitful Assembly With Iran’s Defence Minister

Tehran, Iran:

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday stated he had a “very fruitful” assembly along with his Iranian counterpart Brigadier Common Amir Hatami and mentioned methods to bolster bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional safety points, together with the state of affairs in Afghanistan.

Mr Singh reached Tehran from Moscow on Saturday on a transit halt after concluding his three-day go to to Russia the place he attended a gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers. He additionally held bilateral talks along with his counterparts from Russia, China and the Central Asian nations.

“Had a really fruitful assembly with Iranian defence minister Brigadier Common Amir Hatami in Tehran. We mentioned regional safety points together with Afghanistan and the problems of bilateral cooperation,” he stated in a tweet.

“Each the Defence Ministers mentioned methods to take ahead bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional safety points, together with peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Singh”s workplace stated in a separate tweet on the assembly held on Saturday on the request of the Iranian defence minister.

The assembly between the 2 ministers passed off in a “cordial and heat ambiance,” it stated, including that the leaders emphasised upon the age-old cultural, linguistic and civilisational ties between India and Iran.

Had a really fruitful assembly with Iranian defence minister Brigadier Common Amir Hatami in Tehran. We mentioned regional safety points together with Afghanistan and the problems of bilateral cooperation . pic.twitter.com/8ZENfAgRPS

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 6, 2020

Mr Singh’s go to to Iran is taken into account to be important because it got here a day after he voiced India’s deep concern concerning the state of affairs within the Persian Gulf and referred to as upon the nations within the area to resolve their variations by dialogue based mostly on mutual respect.

A collection of incidents within the Persian Gulf involving Iran, the US and the UAE in latest weeks have flared up pressure within the area.

“We’re deeply involved concerning the state of affairs within the Persian Gulf,” Mr Singh stated in his handle at a gathering of the SCO in Moscow on Friday.

“We name upon nations within the area – all of that are expensive and pleasant to India, to resolve variations by dialogue based mostly on mutual respect, sovereignty and non-interference in inner affairs of one another,” he stated in his handle on the mixed assembly of defence ministers of the SCO, Collective Safety Treaty Organisation and Commonwealth of Unbiased States member states.

Final month, Iranian navy briefly seized management of a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in what the US stated had been worldwide waters close to the Strait of Hormuz, which hyperlinks the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea past.

Iran has threatened to disrupt oil shipments by the Strait of Hormuz if the US, which has already imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme, tries to strangle its economic system.

India-Iran industrial ties had been historically dominated by Indian import of Iranian crude oil. In 2018-19 India imported USD 12.11 billion value of crude oil from Iran.

Nevertheless, following the top of the Important Discount Exemption (SRE) interval on Could 2, 2019, India has suspended importing crude from Iran, in accordance with the Indian Embassy right here.

The US had requested nations, together with India, to chop oil imports from Iran right down to “zero” by November 6, 2019 or face sanctions.

The bilateral commerce throughout 2019-20 was USD four.77 billion, a lower of 71.99 per cent as in comparison with the commerce of USD 17.03 billion 2018-19. What is important is that Indian exports to Iran between 2011-12 and 2019-20 have grown by 45.60 per cent, in accordance with the web site of the mission.