India and Iran on Monday reviewed ongoing connectivity and infrastructure development projects, including the progress on full operationalisation of the strategic Chabahar port.
The review took place during the sixteenth round of the Foreign Office Consultations that were held between the two sides in Tehran with the Indian side led by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and the Iranian side headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi.
Gokhale also called on Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Senior Advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Akbar Velayati, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
During the consultations, the two sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation, ongoing connectivity and infrastructure development projects, including development of the Shahid Behesthi Port, Chabahar, and full operationalisation of the Trilateral Transit Agreement (Chabahar Agreement) between India, Iran and Afghanistan.
India is participating in the development of the first phase of the Shahid Behesti Port in Chabahar in cooperation with Iran.
Indian company, India Ports Global Limited, had taken over the port operations in December 2018 and has been successfully handling cargo since then.
Both sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, the MEA said.
It was agreed to maintain the momentum of mutually beneficial multi-faceted bilateral cooperation and exchanges between the two sides, and to hold the next round of the Joint Commission Meeting at the level of the external affairs minister at an early date in Iran, the statement said.
The next round of Foreign Office Consultations will be held in New Delhi on mutually convenient dates, it said.
The consultations comes at a time when the energy ties between the two countries have taken a big hit due to US ban on buying oil from Iran.
In November, the US had granted a six-month waiver to India, China, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea to continue importing oil from Iran. The temporary waiver ended on May 2.
In May last year, the US had brought back sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal which was struck in 2015.
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