PM Modi meets Iranian President Pezeshkian on sidelines of SCO Summit in Bishkek
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "PM Modi meets Iranian President Pezeshkian on sidelines of SCO Summit in Bishkek")
PM Modi meets Iran's Pezeshkian in Bishkek at the sidelines of SCO Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek. Modi also held talks with Armenia’s Nikol Pashinyan on bilateral ties and regional issues, including West Asia, and is expected to meet Vladimir Putin later.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (Aug 31) met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. In a post on X after the meeting, PM Modi said that he reiterated India's “commitment to strengthening long standing friendship with Iran across diverse sectors.” We want to expand and diversify our trade basket in the times to come, he added. He also said that both sides had a discussion on the prevailing situation in West Asia. “India will continue to support all efforts aimed at ensuring lasting peace,” he said.
There has been no statement on meeting with PM Modi from the Iranian side. Prior to his departure for Bishkek, the Iranian President had said that Iran does not seek war, but will respond with strength and determination to any aggression. "This meeting is very important and most of the leaders of the region will be present in it. In a situation where some international institutions are seeking to create a unified space in the world, this meeting is considered a symbol of the existence of diverse and independent voices in the global arena," he had said.
What's PM Modi's schedule in SCO Summit today?
Earlier today, PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan. The two leaders discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral cooperation across various areas, including defence, economic, pharma, science and technology, culture and education. They also exchanged views on regional and global developments, including the situation in West Asia. PM Modi reiterated that India looked forward to working closely with Armenia to further deepen and expand bilateral ties. Later in the day, PM Modi is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the official opening ceremony of the 6th World Nomad Games at the invitation of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
Meanwhile, Former Union Minister and Senior Indian journalist MJ Akbar said, "PM Modi's meeting with the Iranian president acquires a very special chemistry in the context of the recent Mecca Pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. The Americans certainly believe that the pact is a replacement for the American umbrella against Iran. But in the longer analysis, India and Iran are civilisational nations with a deep sense of identity, nations with a deep sense of confidence who believe that bilateral bonds are far more effective than multilateral fluff. The details of the conversation between the two are yet to be known but I can give you some clues of how Iran views India and Pakistan, as one very senior Iranian diplomat told me. He said the difference between India and Pakistan is this - when India disagrees with Iran, we in Tehran know it is because India's national interest differs with Iran which is perfectly understandable. But when Pakistan disagrees with Iran, it is because it is doing so under American instructions. They believe, and there is a lot of evidence for that, that Pakistan is a dependent state and India is an independent country."
