New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Monday said he had a discussion on Chabahar with Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, just a day ahead of the 9th ‘Heart of Asia’ conference.
The Chabahar port, which is Iran’s closest and best access point to the Indian Ocean, holds a significant importance in terms of trade.
“Began my Heart of Asia engagements with a meeting with Iranian FM Javad Zarif. A warm conversation that underlined our convergences. Also discussed our bilateral cooperation, including Chabahar,” Dr Jaishankar tweeted.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process is a regional initiative of Afghanistan and the Republic of Turkey, which was launched on November 2, 2011 in Istanbul. The process aims to promote regional security, economic and political cooperation centered on Afghanistan through dialogue and confidence building measures (CBMs).
Dr Jaishankar, after touching down in Dushanbe, informed that he visited the Dushanbe-Chortut Highway Project site. “Good work being done by @BROindia under our grant assistance. The 8-lane highway will decongest Dushanbe,” the Foreign Minister wrote on Twitter.
The Minister had earlier visited Dushanbe in June 2019 to attend the 5th Summit of ‘Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia’.
This visit is in continuation of the frequent high-level exchanges between the two countries that will further strengthen the close strategic partnership between India and Tajikistan.
