EAM Jaishankar to represent India at Iran President Raisi's oath-taking ceremony

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will visit Iran this week to represent India at the oath-taking ceremony of the new Iran President Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi's oath-taking ceremony will take place in Tehran on 5th August which will see participation by several heads of government and foreign ministers participating.

This will be Jaishankar's 2nd visit to Iran in a matter of one month. Last month he had visited Iran while going to Moscow. During the stopover he called on President-Elect Ebrahim Raisi, becoming the first foreign minister to do so. During his meeting with the Iranian President-elect, he handed over a personal message from Indian PM Narendra Modi.

In a tweet after the meet, Indian EAM said, "Deeply value his strong commitment to strengthen our bilateral ties and expand cooperation on regional and global issues."

Thank President-elect Ebrahim Raisi for his gracious welcome. Handed over a personal message from PM @narendramodi. Appreciate his warm sentiments for India. Deeply value his strong commitment to strengthen our bilateral ties and expand cooperation on regional and global issues. pic.twitter.com/Ef7iEutkZi

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) July 7, 2021

He also held talks with Iran's foreign minister Zarif during which Afghanistan was the key focus. Iranian foreign ministry in a statement said, 'The two sides also stressed the need to strengthen intra-Afghan dialogue in Afghanistan which leads to a comprehensive political solution".

Iran is key to India's connectivity to the west due to the Chabahar port in which New Delhi has invested. The port provides connectivity to Afghanistan, Central Asia and will be part of the North-South International transport corridor that connects Mumbai with Moscow.