Smt. Nirupama Rao, Foreign Secretary, Government of India, accompanied by Shri Y.K. Sinha, Joint Secretary (PAI) visited Tehran on 5-7 July, 2011 for the 9th round of Foreign Office Consultations at the invitation of her counterpart Dr. Mohammad Ali Fathollahi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia & Oceania of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

During her stay in Tehran, besides holding the Foreign Office Consultations, she called on Foreign Minister Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Dr. Saeed Jalili. Foreign Secretary’s discussions covered issues pertaining to bilateral, regional and international developments.  Views were exchanged on combating global terrorism, energy security, the North-South Transport Corridor, developments in Afghanistan and regional security and stability.  It was agreed that the next meeting of the India-Iran Joint Commission will be held in Tehran at an early date.   In her meeting with Foreign Minister Dr. Salehi, Foreign Secretary reiterated the invitation for him to visit India.

During the visit, both sides exchanged the Instrument of Ratification for the Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners signed in July 2010 thereby operationalizing the Agreement.