Embassy of India
Tehran
***
India-Iran Relations
Overview
India and Iran share a millennia-long history of interactions. The contemporary and relationship draws upon the strength of these historical and civilisational ties, and continues to grow further marked by high-level exchanges, commercial and connectivity cooperation, cultural and robust people-to-people ties.
Political relations;
2. India and Iran signed a friendship treaty on 15th March 1950. The visit of Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Iran and the signing of the Tehran Declaration in April 2001, followed by the visit of President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami and the signing of the New Delhi Declaration in 2003 deepened the India-Iran cooperation. The two documents identified areas of cooperation and set the strategic vision for the India-Iran partnership.
3. The bilateral relations were further boosted by the visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to Iran in May 2016. During the visit, a joint statement titled “Civilizational Connect, Contemporary Context” was issued, and 12 MOUs/Agreements were signed. The Trilateral Agreement on Trade, Transport and Transit between India, Iran and Afghanistan was also signed during the visit. President Rouhani visited India in February 2018, during which a joint statement titled “Towards Prosperity Through Greater Connectivity” was issued. The two sides signed 13 MOUs/Agreements during the visit.
4. There have been two Parliamentary speaker-level visits between India and Iran, with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar visiting Iran in 2011, followed by a return visit by the Speaker of Majlis, Dr Ali Larijani to India in 2013.
5. Prime Minister Modi and President Raisi met for the first time on the sidelines of the SCO Heads of State Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in September 2022, during which both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to bilateral cooperation, especially in trade and connectivity. The two leaders also met on the sidelines of BRICS Summit in August 2023.
6. External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Tehran in July and August 2021 and called on President Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian visited India in June 2022. During the visit, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on Civil and Commercial Matters was signed. In August 2022, Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways visited Iran, during which the MoU on Recognition of Certificates of Competency in Unlimited Voyages between Iran and India was signed.
7. The two countries have in place several Bilateral Consultative Mechanisms at various levels including the Joint Committee Meeting (JCM), Foreign Office Consultations (FOC), Security Consultations at the level of National Security Advisers and Deputy National Security Advisers, and the Joint Consular Committee Meeting (JCCM). India and Iran also have Joint Working Groups to facilitate cooperation in various sectors of mutual interest.
Connectivity
10. India and Iran signed a MoU in 2015 to jointly cooperate on the development of the Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar, Iran. India continues to cooperate closely with Iran in realizing the vision of Chabahar Port as a major regional and international hub in the movement of humanitarian and commercial goods.
Trade Relations
11. India and Iran are important trade partners. India has been among Iran’s five largest trade partners in recent years. Major Indian exports to Iran include rice, tea, sugar, pharmaceuticals, manmade staple fibres, electrical machinery, artificial jewellery etc. while major Indian imports from Iran consist of dry fruits, inorganic/organic chemicals, glassware, etc.
Cultural Cooperation and People to People Relations
12. Civilizational links between India and Iran continue to be the source of robust people to people and cultural ties. The Indian Cultural Centre established in 2013 and renamed the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC) in 2018 is helping further these cultural ties. The major tourist destinations in India and Iran continue to attract tourists of all ages from both countries.
(As on November 2023)
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High level visits between India and Iran
Prime Ministerial level
Outgoing visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
|
22-23 May 2016
|
Bilateral
|
|
2.
|
Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister
|
28-31 August 2012
|
To attend the 16th Non-aligned Movement (NAM) summit
|
|
3.
|
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister
|
10-13 April 2001
|
Bilateral
|
|
4.
|
Shri Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister
|
September 1993
|
Bilateral
|
|
5.
|
Shri Morarji Desai, Prime Minister
|
June 1977
|
Bilateral
|
|
6.
|
Smt. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister
|
April 1974
|
Bilateral
|
|
7.
|
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister
|
September 1959
|
Bilateral
|
Incoming visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Dr. Hassan Rouhani, President
|
15-17 February 2018
|
Bilateral
|
|
2.
|
Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President
|
April 29, 2008
|
Bilateral
|
|
3.
|
Mr. Mohammad Khatami, President
|
24-28 January, 2003
|
Chief Guest at the Republic Day function
|
|
4.
|
Mr. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, President
|
April 1995
|
Bilateral
|
|
5.
|
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahalvi
|
February 1978
|
Bilateral
|
|
6.
|
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahalvi
|
February/March 1956
|
Bilateral
|
Vice Presidential level
Outgoing visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Shri M. Hamid Ansari, Vice President
|
04 August 2013
|
To attend swearing-in ceremony of President Dr. Hassan Rouhani
|
|
2.
|
Shri K. R. Narayanan, Vice President
|
October 1996
|
Bilateral
|
Incoming visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Dr. Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh, Vice president and Head of department of Environment
|
November 2012
|
11th Conference of Parties (CoP) of UN Convention on Bio-diversity in Hyderabad
|
Parliamentary exchanges
Outgoing visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Smt. Meira Kumar, Speaker of Lok Sabha
|
November 2011
|
Bilateral
|
Incoming visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Dr. Ali Larijani, Speaker of Majlis
|
24-28 February 2013
|
Bilateral
|
|
2.
|
Nazar Afsali, Chairman of India-Iran Parliamentary friendship group
|
26-28 February 2018
|
Bilateral
|
Ministerial level
Outgoing visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways
|
18-21 August 2022
|
Bilateral
|
|
2.
|
Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister
|
5-6 August 2021
|
Bilateral
|
|
3.
|
Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister
|
7 July 2021
|
Bilateral
|
|
4.
|
Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister
|
22-23 December 2019
|
To attend 19th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM)
|
|
5.
|
Shri Pon Radhakrishnan, Minister of State for Shipping
|
2-4 December 2017
|
To represent India at the inauguration of the Chabahar Port
|
|
6.
|
Smt. Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister
|
2 December 2017
|
Bilateral
|
|
7.
|
Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road, Transport, Highways and Shipping
|
5 August 2017
|
To attend swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Dr. Hassan Rouhani
|
|
8.
|
Shri M J Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs
|
10-12 September 2016
|
Bilateral
|
|
9.
|
Smt. Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister
|
16-17 April2016
|
Bilateral
|
|
10.
|
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas
|
8-10 April 2016
|
Bilateral
|
|
11.
|
Smt. Maneka Gandhi, Minister for Women and Child Development
|
19-21January 2016
|
Special Guest in the 10th International Energy Management Conference
|
|
12.
|
Shri. Salman Khurshid, External Affairs Minister
|
03-05 May 2013
|
17th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM)
|
|
13.
|
Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister of New and Renewable Energy
|
March 2012
|
Bilateral
|
|
14.
|
Shri S M Krishna, External Affairs Minister
|
May 15-17, 2010
|
14th G-15 Summit
|
|
15.
|
Shri Pranab Mukherjee , External Affairs Minister
|
July 29-30, 2008
|
15th NAM Ministerial Conference
|
|
16.
|
Shri Pranab Mukherjee , External Affairs Minister
|
February 6-7, 2007
|
Bilateral
|
Incoming visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Brigadier General Mohammad Reza
Gharaei Ashtiani, Minister for
Defense and Armed Forces Logistics
|
27-28 April 2023
|
To attend the meeting of the SCO
Defense Ministers
|
|
2.
|
Dr. Hossein Amir Abdollahian
|
8-10 June 2022
|
Bilateral
|
|
3.
|
Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami, Defence Minister
|
2-4 February 2022
|
To attend the First Indian Ocean Defence Ministers Conclave and Aeroindia 2021
|
|
4.
|
Dr. Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister
|
14-17 January 2020
|
To attend Raisina Dialogue 2020
|
|
5.
|
Dr. Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister
|
13-14 May 2019
|
Bilateral
|
|
6.
|
Mr. Abbas Akhoundi, Minister of Roads & Urban Development
|
9-12 January 2019
|
Bilateral
|
|
7.
|
Dr. Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister
|
7-9 January 2019
|
To attend Raisina Dialogue 2019
|
|
8.
|
Dr. Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Minister of Health and Medical Education
|
12-14 December 2018
|
Bilateral
|
|
9.
|
Mr. Abbas Akhoundi, Minister of Roads & Urban Development
|
6-7 September 2018
|
Bilateral
|
|
10.
|
Dr. Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister
|
28 May 2018
|
Bilateral
|
|
11.
|
Mr. Bijan Zangeneh, Minister of Petroleum
|
11 April 2018
|
To attend the 16th International Energy Forum in New Delhi
|
|
12.
|
Mr. Mohammad Jahromi, Minister for Communications and IT
|
23-24 November 2017
|
To attend the Global Cyber Conference
|
|
13.
|
Dr. Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister
|
4 December 2016
|
To attend 6th Heart of Asia-Istanbul process Ministerial Conference in Amritsar
|
|
14.
|
Dr. Abbas Akhoundi, Minister of Transport and Urban Development
|
27-30 September 2016
|
Bilateral
|
|
15.
|
Dr. Ali Tayyebnia, Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance
|
26-28 December 2015
|
18th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM)
|
|
16.
|
Dr. Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister
|
13-14 August 2015
|
Bilateral
|
|
17.
|
Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping
|
May 5-7 2015
|
MoU on Chabahar
|
|
18.
|
Mr. Akbar Torkan, Presidential advisor and Secretary of high Council of Free Zones
|
12 -15 January 2015
|
To attend the Vibrant Gujarat Summit
|
|
19.
|
Dr. Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister
|
28 February, 2014
|
Bilateral
|
|
20.
|
Eng. Majid Namjoo, Minister of Energy
|
October 2012
|
To attend the Global Ministerial level “International Seminar on Energy Access”
|
|
21.
|
Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati, Senior Advisor to Supreme Leader on International Affairs
|
December 2011
|
Bilateral
|
Secretary level
Outgoing visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Shri Vijay Gokhale, Foreign Secretary
|
16 September 2019
|
16th Foreign Office Consultations (FoCs)
|
|
2.
|
Shri Gopal Krishna, Secretary (Shipping)
|
26 February 2019
|
To attend Chabahar Day Event 2019
|
|
3.
|
Shri T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary (ER)
|
23-24 October 2018
|
1st Coordination Council Meeting on Trilateral Transit Agreement between Afghanistan, India & Iran (Chabahar Agreement)
|
|
4.
|
Shri Alok Srivastava, Special Secretary (Shipping)
|
3-6 September 2017
|
6th Joint Committee Meeting on Ports and Maritime Cooperation
|
|
5.
|
Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary
|
16-17 May 2017
|
14th Foreign Office Consultations (FoCs)
|
|
6.
|
Rajiv Kumar, Secretary (Shipping)
|
November 31- December 2, 2015
|
Regarding Chabahar Port project
|
|
7.
|
Shri Rajeev Mehrishi, Finance Secretary
|
25-26 July 2015
|
Bilateral
|
|
8.
|
Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary
|
June 13-14, 2015
|
Foreign Office Consultations (FoCs)
|
|
9.
|
Smt. Nirupama Rao, Foreign Secretary
|
July 2011
|
9th Foreign Office Consultations (FoCs)
|
Incoming visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Alireza Peyman Pak, Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Trade and Market Regulation
|
31st August to 2nd September 2023
|
Bilateral
|
|
2.
|
Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mohammad Mehdi Borumandi
|
10th June 2023
|
Bilateral
|
|
3.
|
Mr. Mehdi Safari, Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy
|
12-13 April 2023
|
1st India-Central Asia JWG on Chabahar Port
|
|
4.
|
Dr. Meisam Abedi, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology
|
21-23 March 2023
|
Bilateral
|
|
5.
|
Mr. Ali Bagheri Kani, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs
|
24 November 2022
|
Bilateral
|
|
6.
|
Mr. Mehdi Safari, Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy
|
15 June 2022
|
Bilateral
|
Think Tanks/Others
Outgoing visits
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of dignitary
|
Duration
|
Purpose of visit
|
|
1.
|
Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan, Director General (ICWA)
|
12-13 October 2019
|
ICWA-IPIS Dialogue
|
|
2.
|
Shri Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President ,ICCR
|
3 December 2018
|
Bilateral
|
|
3.
|
Shri Jayant Prasad, Director General, IDSA
|
23-26July 2016
|
Bilateral
|
|
4.
|
Shri Vinod Rai, Comptroller and Auditor General of India
|
June 2012
|
Bilateral, at the invitation of Supreme Audit Court of Iran (SAC)
|
