Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Days after he conveyed his intention to mediate between India and Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in New Delhi next week for discussions on trade and economic cooperation, sources said on May 2. Sources in the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi said Araghchi is expected to hold detailed discussions with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar “on all aspects of the Pahalgam attack, besides other issues of bilateral, regional and global importance”.
The Iranian Foreign Minister is set to co-chair a meeting of the bilateral joint commission with EAM Jaishankar while in India during May 7-8, sources said on condition of anonymity. Araghchi’s visit was scheduled long before tensions flared between India and Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. It will also be Araghchi’s first visit to India since he was appointed the Foreign Minister last August.
This will be the first meeting of the Joint Commission, which mainly focuses on trade and economic cooperation, since December 2019, when Jaishankar travelled to Tehran for consultations. While the Joint Commission is supposed to meet every year, there has been a gap in its meetings because of the Covid-19 pandemic and domestic pre-occupations of the two countries.
Though a substantive agenda of trade and economic issues, including development of Chabahar port, has been finalised, sources didn’t rule out the possibility of the India-Pakistan tensions figuring in Araghchi’s talks with Indian interlocutors.
Araghchi created a flutter in New Delhi by offering in a social media post last week to help “forge greater understanding” between India and Pakistan. The move came amid speculation within diplomatic circles about back-channel mediation by several West Asian countries that have close ties with both India and Pakistan.
Following the attack, India unveiled several punitive measures, including suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and closure of the only operational land border crossing at Attari. Pakistan retaliated with counter-measures such as closing its airspace to Indian airliners and suspending all trade.
Araghchi, who also spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, has described India and Pakistan as “brotherly neighbours” that Iran considers as a foremost priority.