TEHRAN: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said he had a ‘very fruitful’ meeting with his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Amir Hatami and discussed ways to bolster bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional security issues, including the situation in Afghanistan.
Singh reached Tehran from Moscow on a transit halt after concluding his three-day visit to Russia where he attended a meeting of the SCO defence ministers.
He also held bilateral talks with his counterparts from Russia, China and the Central Asian countries.
“Both the Defence Ministers discussed ways to take forward bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional security issues, including peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Singh’s office said in a tweet. The meeting between the two ministers took place in a “cordial and warm atmosphere,” it said, adding that the leaders emphasised upon the age-old cultural, linguistic and civilisational ties between India and Iran.
Singh’s visit to Iran is considered to be significant as it came a day after he voiced India’s deep concern about the situation in the Persian Gulf and called upon the countries in the region to resolve their differences through dialogue based on mutual respect.
A series of incidents in the Persian Gulf involving Iran, the US and the UAE in recent weeks have flared up tension in the region.
“We are deeply concerned about the situation in the Persian Gulf,’ Singh said in his address at a meeting of the SCO in Moscow on Friday.
“We call upon countries in the region — all of which are dear and friendly to India, to resolve differences by dialogue based on mutual respect, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of each other,” he said.
Md. Muddassir Quamar, an Associate Fellow at India’s premier Think Tank Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, said, “It is a wrong impression that China is taking over the strategic Chabahar Port. It is India and Iran which are involved into the processes of development and operations.”