External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has expressed grave concern over the attacks on ships in the vicinity of India, saying such threats have a direct bearing on the country’s energy and economic interest.
“There has recently been a perceptible increase in threats to the safety of maritime commercial traffic in this important part of the Indian Ocean. This situation does not benefit anybody,” he said at a joint press statement with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian after wide-ranging talks between them in Tehran.
He emphasised that it was important that this issue was “speedily addressed”, in an apparent reference to the targeting of merchant vessels in the Red Sea by Iranian-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Mr Jaishankar, who was in Iran on a two-day visit as part of the ongoing high-level exchanges between the two countries, also said that both India and Iran were concerned about recent events in West Asia and emphasised the importance of preventing further escalation of violence and hostilities in the region.
He reiterated India’s position for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue. ”On the issue of Palestine, let me reiterate India’s long-standing support for a two-state solution where the Palestine people are able to live freely in an independent country with secure borders.”
On the Chabahar Port in Iran, Mr Jaishankar said he has assured the Iranian leadership of India’s full commitment to the strategic port project.
Iranian media said Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, during his meeting with Mr Jaishankar, emphasised the need for speeding up implementation of Iran-India agreements, including the Chabahar Port Development Plan, and the need to compensate for the delay in the implementation of commitments.
Mr Raisi also referred to the deep-rooted relations between Iran and India, and the efforts to fulfil the will of the high officials of the two countries in order to develop and improve the level of relations in political, economic, science and technology, transportation and energy sectors.