Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reached Tehran yesterday and held detailed discussions with his Iranian counterpart

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said he had a “fruitful” meeting with his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Amir Hatami. He had arrived in Tehran yesterday after concluding his three-day visit to Moscow where he attended Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Defence Ministers’ meet.

During his stay in Iran, he held discussions with his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Amir Hatami on issues of common interests.

Tweeting about it, he said, “Had a very fruitful meeting with Iranian Defence Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami in Tehran. We discussed regional security issues including Afghanistan and the issues of bilateral cooperation.”


According to some reports, the minister reached Iran a day after he called on the Persian Gulf nations to reach a solution through dialogue. In fact, on September 4, India said that it is ‘deeply concerned’ about the situation in the Persian Gulf region. “We are deeply concerned about the situation in the Persian Gulf,” the Defence Minister had said at the SCO meeting.

He had emphasised on resolving differences through dialogue based on mutual respect, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of each other.

“We call upon countries in the region - all of which are dear and friendly to India, to resolve differences by dialogue based on mutual respect, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of each other,” the Defence Minister had maintained.

The situation in the Persian Gulf is full of tension. Last month, Iranian navy briefly seized control of a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in what the US said were international waters near the Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond.

Amid this, India is looking forward to cooling down the situation by advising the nations to reach a consensus through dialogue as it enjoys good relations with the all three nations.

India and Iran enjoy strong trade as well as defence relations. According to the Ministry of External Affairs’ data, the India-Iran bilateral trade during the fiscal year 2018-19 rose to $17.03 billion as compared to $ 13.76 billion in 2017-18 which represents an increase of 23.8 per cent.

While Iran imports rice, tea, iron and steel, organic chemicals, metals, electrical machinery, drugs and pharmaceuticals from India, it also exports petroleum and its products, inorganic or organic chemicals, fertilizers, plastic and articles, edible fruit and nuts, glass and glassware, natural or cultured pearls, precious or semiprecious stones to India.