Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India expressed his desire to visit Tehran as early as possible. He told this to President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani. Mr. Modi told this in response to the invitation extended by President of Iran during his first meeting with Mr. Modi on the occasion of BRICS summit.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Rouhani various international issue with special focus on connectivity, Afghanistan issue and the threat posed by ISIS.
Mr. Modi confirmed for the first time to Iran that he is seriously thinking of visiting the country. Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Govt. of India denied that India has changed its policy over the Palestine issue, in the wake of India’s absence during voting against Israel in UN Human Rights Council. This issue was discussed for more than an hour.
Sources of Indian Foreign Ministry revealed that Mr. Modi and Mr. Rouhani did not discuss the deal Iran is negotiating with P5+1 countries to put an end to its controversial nuclear programme. Both the leaders agreed that they have to work jointly to maintain peace and stability in Afghanistan as the pressure of Taliban is mounting.
Mr. Vikas Swarup, Spokesman of Foreign Ministry told that the meeting was a sign of significant advancement in bilateral ties.
Both the leaders discussed the need to accelerate the work related to Chabahar seaport project. This port will facilitate India to access not only Afghanistan but also Central Asian countries which are rich in mineral resources.
Mr. Rouhani and Mr. Modi appreciated the cultural and historical relations of both the countries. Iran has been making an attempt to ensure Mr. Modi’s visit to Tehran despite the fact that Modi is leaning towards Israel as announced by Ms. Sushma Swaraj that Modi is the first PM of India to visit Israel.
Despite remaining absent in the recently held voting of United Nations’ Human Rights Committee, India joined the other BRICS countries to condemn the attempts of Israeli Govt. for its settlement activities in the occupied territories which is a gross negligence of International law and a hindrance in the peace efforts.
BRICS 2015 passed a declaration saying “We welcome all initiatives aimed at achieving intra-Palestinian unity and urge the parties to this process to facilitate to full extent the implementation of the international obligations assumed by Palestine. We call on the UN Security Council to fully exercise its functions under the UN Charter with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.
The declaration also felt the need to ensure the establishment of free of nuclear zone in the Middle East.
The members of BRICS countries passed the following resolution:
“We reiterate the call for convening of a conference on the issue to be attended by all states of the region. We urge the Middle East countries to show political will and pragmatic approach and adopt a constructive position for achieving the noble goal of creating a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction”.