India & Iran explore regional cooperation to counter terror

India and Iran have decided to explore regional cooperation to counter terrorism, a development that acquires significance as it comes in the backdrop of the recent Pahalgam terrorist attack.

Iranian foreign minister Dr Abbas Araghchi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar, during their meeting in Delhi on Thursday, strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and called for enhanced regional cooperation to combat the threat, an official said.

The Indian side briefed the Iranian delegation on the cross-border linkages of the Pahalgam attack, according to the official. Both India and Iran are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which has a body called Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. The two sides signed memorandums of understanding on medical products regulation and implementation of the bilateral agreement on customs cooperation. On his maiden visit to India in his current capacity, Araghchi also discussed steps to increase collaboration on the Chabahar Port and the the International North-South Transport Corridor, besides concrete measures on pushing the economic partnership, which remains limited due to sanctions.


Araghchi's visit is being organised in the backdrop of Iran's supreme leader Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei's recent statement calling for expanding trade relations with economic hubs in Asia such as India, China and Russia.