I.   Introduction:

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

2.  Independent India and Iran established diplomatic links on 15 March 1950. The Shah visited India in February/March 1956 and Prime Minister Pandit Nehru visited Iran in September 1959. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited Iran in April 1974 and Prime Minister Morarji Desai visited in June 1977. The Shah, in turn, visited India in February 1978. 

3.   The Iranian Revolution in 1979 introduced a new phase of engagement between India and Iran marked by exchange of high level visits of Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao in September 1993, Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in April 1995 and Indian Vice President K. R. Narayanan in October 1996. The trend was consolidated and enhanced at the turn of the millennium with visits by Prime Minister Vajpayee in 2001 and a return visit by President Khatami in 2003, when he was also the Chief Guest at the Republic Day function. The Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited India on 29 April 2008.

4.  The two countries have in place several bilateral consultative mechanisms at various levels whose meetings take place regularly. In addition, the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) of India and the Institute of Political and International Studies (IPIS) of Iran hold regular round table to exchange views and ideas on bilateral and multilateral issues. The two countries have signed an Agreement for Extradition and a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty which await ratification.

5.  The Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki led a high-level delegation to India on 16-17 November 2009. This visit provided an opportunity to set the agenda for bilateral relations to be pursued by the two governments for the medium term. During the visit, Mottaki called on the Vice-President and the Prime Minister of India and met the External Affairs Minister, Shri S. M. Krishna. Discussions covered a whole range of bilateral issues including economic cooperation, energy security, expansion of bilateral trade, surface transport, and regional issues and common concerns about terrorism.

6.   External Affairs Minister Shri S.M. Krishna visited Tehran from 15-18 May 2010 to attend the 14th G-15 Summit. In his address on May 17, the Hon’ble Minister said that the Summit provided an opportunity to review the progress of the G-15 since its inception two decades back. The G-15, he underlined, had made collective efforts to inject issues of interest to developing countries into the global agenda, and to seek outcomes that addressed its concerns. He suggested that the G-15 should be made an effective platform not only for South-South cooperation but also for policy articulation in the global discourse in the areas of trade, money & finance, equitable development, food & energy security, climate change, etc. On the sidelines of the Summit, he called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Majlis Speaker Dr. Ali Larijani and met Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. During his interactions with the Iranian dignitaries, EAM exchanged views on issues pertaining to bilateral interest and regional and international developments.

II.  Economic

7.  India-Iran economic and commercial ties have traditionally been buoyed by Indian import of Iranian crude oil. India imported about 22 million tons of crude oil valued at about $ 10 billion in 2009, which makes it the third largest market for Iranian crude. India-Iran trade for the first two quarters in 2009-10 was US$6.59 billion (Indian exports US$ 0.96 billion and imports US$ 5.63 billion) (Source: DGCIS; it was US$13.15 billion in 2008-09) During the same period, Iran’s crude oil exports to India stood at about US$ 5.12 billion.  India’s exports to Iran include petroleum products, rice, machinery & instruments, manufactures of metals, primary and semi finished iron & steel, drugs/pharmaceuticals & fine chemicals, processed minerals, manmade yarn & fabrics, tea, organic/inorganic/agro chemicals, rubber manufactured products, etc.

8.  India and Iran are in discussions for the setting up of a number of projects such as the IPI gas pipeline project, a long term annual supply of 5 million tons of LNG, development of the Farsi oil and gas blocks, South Pars gas field and LNG project, Chabahar container terminal project and Chabahar-Faraj-Bam railway project, etc. Both countries have set up joint ventures such as the Irano-Hind Shipping Company, the Madras Fertilizer Company and the Chennai Refinery. A bilateral Air Services Agreement was finalized in April 2008 and awaits ratification. Indian companies such as TATA, ESSAR, OVL, etc have a presence in Iran. The State Bank of India (SBI) has a representative office in Tehran. India is also a member of the International North-South Corridor project. The two countries are in the process of finalizing a Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA) and a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).

9.   Indo-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM): India and Iran hold regular bilateral talks on economic and trade issues at the Indo-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM).  The 15th JCM was held in Tehran on 31 October -2 November 2008.  The 16th JCM is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on 8-9 July 2010.

10.  Joint Business Council (JBC): Both India and Iran hold Joint Business Council meetings regularly. The 10th meeting was held in India on 13 November 2009.

III.  Culture and Education:

11.  India and Iran maintain regular cultural and educational exchanges. A MoU was signed in January 2008 between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi and the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) on holding of “Days of Culture” in two countries. Accordingly, the Iranian cultural week was held in New Delhi and Mumbai in April-May 2008. India plans to hold its “Days of Culture” in Iran in 2010. India is   to set up a Cultural Centre in Tehran. Iran has Cultural Centres in Delhi and Mumbai. There are about 8,000 Iranian students studying in India. India provides 67 scholarships every year to Iranian students under ITEC, ICCR, Colombo Plan and IOR-ARC schemes.

IV.  The Indian Community in Iran:

12.  The Indian community in Iran, which was sizeable earlier, has dwindled and now it is a small one consisting of about 200 families in Tehran and about 40 in Zahedan. There are a number of Indian students in Iran, approximately 800, a large number of whom pursue studies in Qom. There is an Indian school in Tehran, run by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and another in Zahedan.