Last year, India had supplied one million doses of COVAXIN vaccine to Iran

India has supplied medical assistance consisting of anti-Tuberculosis medicines as part of its ongoing humanitarian assistance to Iran, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday.

Last year, in their joint fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, India had supplied humanitarian assistance of one million doses of COVAXIN vaccine to Iran.

Further, to ensure food security, India had also supplied 40,000 litres of Malathion (pesticide) to Iran under Government-to-Government initiative for Locust Control Programme, the MEA said.

India-Iran relations span centuries marked by meaningful interactions.

The two countries shared a border till 1947 and share several common features in their language, culture and traditions, states the MEA note on India-Iran Relations.

Both South Asia and the Persian Gulf have strong commercial, energy, cultural and people-to-people links, it says.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had visited Iran in August last year to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Ayatollah Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi. During his visit, Jaishankar called on the President and on the sidelines, met other leaders.

In its budget for 2022-23, India had allocated Rs 100 crore for the development of Chabahar port that is a more economical and stable route for landlocked countries of the region to reach India and the global market.

It may be recalled that during the visit of the Prime Minister to Iran in May 2016, a Trilateral Agreement to establish the International Transport and Transit Corridor (Chabahar Agreement) was signed by India, Iran and Afghanistan.

India is participating in the development of the first phase of the Shahid Behesti Terminal, Chabahar Port in cooperation with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

India has committed total grant assistance of USD 85 Million and a credit facility of USD 150 Million for development of Shahid Behesti Terminal, Chabahar Port.