S Jaishankar meets Zarif amid concerns in India over Iran-China deal in Tehran

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his counterpart in Iranian Government, M Javad Zarif, in Tehran on Tuesday, amid growing concerns in New Delhi over China’s proposed $400 billion investment in the West Asian nation.

Jaishankar had a brief stopover in Tehran while flying from New Delhi to Moscow. His meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister came just two days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami. Singh met Hatami on Sunday, during a stopover in Tehran while flying from Moscow to New Delhi.

The back-to-back high-level engagement saw India and Iran discussing the evolving situation in Afghanistan, after the withdrawal of the US from the war-torn nation following a deal with the Taliban.

“A productive meeting with FM @JZarif during a stopover in Tehran. Discussed strengthening our bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments. Thank him for his gracious hospitality,” Jaishankar tweeted after his meeting with Zarif.

Zarif tweeted that he and Jaishankar discussed “expansion of bilateral relations and trade and exchanged views on important regional issues”.

Even as it is about to ink a deal with Beijing for a whopping $400 billion investment by China in strategic sectors in Iran over the next 25 years, the Islamic Republic sought to reassure New Delhi stating that its deal with the communist country would not have any impact on its relations with India.

Tehran conveyed to New Delhi that the proposed Iran-China agreement would be a roadmap of cooperation between the two nations over the next two-and-a-half decades and it was not being worked out with any “hidden agenda”, sources told DH.

The proposed Iran-China deal sent alarm bells ringing in the US and the officials of President Donald Trump’s administration informally warned New Delhi about the possibility of the pact paving the way for Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) setting up military bases in the Islamic Republic in future.

With the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA engaged in a military stand-off along the disputed boundary between the two nations in eastern Ladakh, New Delhi is cautiously waiting for the details of the proposed deal to come out so that its implications on regional security could be assessed. Tehran is understood to have conveyed to New Delhi that its proposed deal with Beijing signalled its willingness to expand its relations, not only with China but also with India and other nations in Asia.