S Jaishankar meets Iranian counterpart with aim to boost ties amid Chabahar woes

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar on Tuesday made a technical halt in Tehran on his way to Moscow for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers’ Meet. pic.twitter.com/03F8F9VBdb — Javad Zarif September 8, 2020 Sources told India Today that in the bilateral aspects, infrastructure projects and the essential Chabahar port as also the Chabahar-Zahedan-Mashhad railway line and the Chabahar-Zahedan rail route figured. pic.twitter.com/Ec9sqO5I6U — Dr. S. Jaishankar September 8, 2020 The engagement comes under the shadow of conversations that are underway between Tehran and Beijing to strike a multi-billion dollar strategic partnership agreement, spread over 25 years, which will allow China to tap into Iran’s oil and gas resources in return for cooperation in the field of defence, information technology, agriculture, industry, tourism and telecom, including a major port development project on the Strait of Hormuz. The Foreign Ministers of the two countries Iran & India always have a lot to discuss, especially on the eve of India's membership in the #UN #SecurityCouncil, which will start on January 1 for two years.” Indian External Affairs Minister #Jaishankar just arrived Tehran. “Considering the history of cooperation between the two countries and the existing potentials and capacities, Iran and India are determined to continue their cooperation in the field of rail transport, especially the Zahedan-Chabahar railway, because the development of cooperation between the two countries in this area," said the Iranian Railways head Saeed Rasouli, after a meeting with Indian Ambassador to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra in July, in a statement reported by official agency Railnews.