External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran on Thursday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that Jaishankar will pay a two-day visit to Iran from Thursday, primarily to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
"At the invitation of the government of Iran, the external affairs minister will visit Iran on August 5 and 6 to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Ayatollah Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi on August 5," the MEA said in a statement. "During his visit, the external affairs minister will call on the president and on the sidelines, will also meet other leaders," it added.
Raisi, a hardliner and known to be close to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, won the presidential election in June by a landslide. Jaishankar called on President-elect Raisi during a stopover at the Iranian capital on his way to Russia last month.
The external affairs minister also held extensive talks with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in Tehran, covering a range of key issues including the fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan. His visit to Tehran coincided with Iran hosting an intra-Afghan dialogue in the country.
Iran has been a key country for India in the Gulf region. The two sides have been jointly focussing on improving connectivity between South East Asia and Central Asia.
At a connectivity conference in Tashkent last month, Jaishankar projected Iran's Chabahar port as a key regional transit hub, including Afghanistan. Located in the Sistan-Balochistan province on energy-rich Iran's southern coast, the Chabahar port is being developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan to boost connectivity and trade ties.
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