(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday spoke to his
Iranian counterpart H Amirabdollahian and discussed bilateral
cooperation and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar said,“Received a call from FM
@Amirabdolahian of Iran. Discussed our bilateral cooperation and
JCPOA. Look forward to remaining in touch.”
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is also known as
the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
India-Iran relations span millennia marked by meaningful
interactions. Since the diplomatic relationship has been
established in 1950 with the friendship treaty, the visits of the
ministerial level have increased.
Iran's then Foreign Minister Javad Zarif participated in the
Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi from 14-17 January 2020 and had
meetings with Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval
on the sidelines. He also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi
during the visit.
The two countries have in place several Bilateral Consultative
Mechanisms at various levels which meet regularly. These include
the Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) chaired at the Ministerial level,
the Foreign Office Consultations chaired at the Foreign Secretary
level and the Joint Consular Committee Meeting at the level of
Joint Secretary/DG.
India-Iran commercial ties were traditionally dominated by the
Indian import of Iranian crude oil. In 2018-19 India imported USD
12.11 billion worth of crude oil from Iran. However, following the
end of the Significant Reduction Exemption (SRE) period on 2 May
2019, India has suspended importing crude from Iran. The bilateral
trade during 2019-20 was USD 4.77 billion, a decrease of 71.99 per
cent as compared to the trade of USD 17.03 billion from
2018-19.
What is significant is that Indian exports to Iran between
2011-12 and 2019-20 have grown by 45.60 per cent. India's major
exports to Iran include rice, tea, sugar, soya,
medicines/pharmaceuticals, man-made staple fibres, electrical
machinery, etc.
Major imports from Iran include inorganic/organic chemicals,
fertilizers, cement clinkers, fruits and nuts, leather, etc. Both
countries are negotiating a Preferential Trade Agreement, on which
five rounds of talks on have been held so far.
India is developing the 1st Phase of Shahid Beheshti Port at
Chabahar. The capacity of the port will reach 8.5 MT at the end of
the first phase. During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
to Tehran in May 2016, the contract on the Shahid Beheshti port of
Chabahar was signed which, inter-alia, comprises an investment of
$85 million for procuring equipment for the port.
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