In a first, India, Iran and Armenia held a round of political consultations in Yerevan, Armenia in April. The countries agreed to hold future meetings in a trilateral format. In addition to trilateral cooperation, the countries had a wide range of discussions, particularly on economic issues and regional communication.
J. P. Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian side. He was joined by Mnatsakan Safaryan, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, and Seyed Rasoul Mousavi, the Assistant of the Foreign Minister of Iran, Head of the Regional General Department of South Asia.
Media reports from Iran claimed that the three countries discussed how to connect Armenia to India through Iran, using the latter’s roads and railway lines.
For India, Armenia has emerged as a key geopolitical partner in recent years. India has supplied arms to Armenia over the years and Armenia has traditionally supported New Delhi on the Kashmir issue.
India-Iran relations span millennia marked by significant interactions. Their commercial ties were traditionally dominated by the Indian import of Iranian crude oil. In February, Irani Ambassador to India Iraj Elahi said, “India is “most important to Iran” and the recent cordial meeting between Tehran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is proof of this.” The minister said this while addressing the event held on the occasion of the 44th Anniversary of the victory of the Islamic revolution of Iran. He said the Chabahar port, with which India is highly involved, is considered the “Golden Gateway.”
