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| Prime Minister's visit to Iran |
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JOINT PRESS STATEMENT ON THE PRIME MINISTER’S VISIT TO IRAN
Following is the text of the joint press statement on the visit of the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the Islamic Republic of Iran :
"On the invitation of His Excellency Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His Excellency Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India paid an official visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran from April, 10-13, 2001. His delegation included H.E. Shri Jaswant Singh, Minister of External affairs and Defence and H.E. Shri Omar Abdullah, Minister of State for commerce and Industry, H.E. Shri Brajesh Mishra, Principal Secretary to :Prime Minister and National Security Advisor and senior officials. A delegation of leading Indian business persons and industrialists was present on the occasion of the Prime Minister’s visit.
During the visit, the Prime Minister was granted an audience by His Eminence Ayotollah Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Prime Minister had a tete-a-tete with the President and both leaders led their respective delegations at official talks. The Prime Minister met the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Hojjetoleslam Mehdi Karrubi and also addressed the Assembly. H.E. Dr. Kamal Kharrazi, Foreign Minister of Iran and H.E. Mr. Bijan Zanganch, Oil Minister called on the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister addressed a joint function of leading Indian and Iranian business people and industrialists. The Prime Minister visited Shiraz where he inaugurated a prominent square named after Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The Prime Minister also visited the tomb of Hafeez in Shiraz.
The Prime Minister laid a wreath at the shrine of Imam Khomeni.
The two leaders agreed that this visit at the dawn of a new millennium marked the beginning of a new chapter in bilateral relations of two countries that shared civilisational and cultural affinities and that the visit would establish a long term framework for all round and multifaceted cooperation.
The ‘Tehran Declaration’ signed by the two leaders embodies their vision of cooperation based on shared concerns and common aspirations and shared complementarities for the benefit of the two peoples and of the region and world at large.
The two leaders emphasised the need to enhance trade ties, economic and technical cooperation and cultural contacts. They expressed satisfaction over the growing trend of expansion of relations between Iran and India in recent years as well as the satisfaction in the implementation of the projects identified by the Joint Commission. In order to encourage trade and economic cooperation, the Prime Minister expressed India’s willingness to offer a line of credit of US$ 200 million particularly for infrastructure projects in Iran. It was agreed that terms and conditions of this credit facility will be worked out to mutual satisfaction. It was also agreed that the two countries would expeditiously work towards concluding Bilateral Protection and Promotion of Investment Agreement and Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement. They emphasised the need to promote tourism and decided that India would hold an ‘India Week’ in Iran and correspondingly Iran would hold an ‘Iran Week’ in India.
Recognising the importance of cooperation in the field of energy the two leaders instructed the Indo-Iran Joint Committee on the transfer of Iranian gas to India to commission joint feasibility studies, through appropriate mechanisms for offshore and overland pipelines from Iran to India on an equal cost sharing basis in order to arrive at long-term, cost effective and secure mode of transfer within a specific time frame. The leaders directed that these studies be completed expeditiously. It was also agreed that the Committee should recommend measures such as may be necessary to facilitate increased cooperation in LNG.
The following agreements / MOUs were signed during the presence of the two leaders. They constitute an important addition to the structural framework for bilateral cooperation :
It was agreed that there should be intensification of contacts between the parliamentarians of the two countries and in this regard it was agreed that action would be taken for the setting up of an Indo-Iran Parliamentary Group.
The two leaders agreed that regional stability, security, welfare and progress would be achievable only through the cooperation of all countries. They agreed to enhance mutual cooperation for safeguarding peace and stability in the region which is witnessing the rise of extremist forces, terrorism and enhanced flows of illicit drugs.
Both the sides condemned the killing of Iranian diplomats and an Iranian journalist by the Taliban in Mazar-e-Shariff in August 1998 as an act of terrorism and called upon international community to take necessary measures so that perpetrators of this act be identified and brought to justice.
The two leaders discussed international developments and emphasised on equality between nations and governments. They reaffirmed their commitment for developing ways for progress, peace and prosperity in developing countries.
The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to the government of Islamic Republic of Iran for the warm, cordial and generous hospitality accorded to him and his delegation. The Indian Prime Minister invited the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to pay an official visit to India, which was accepted by President Khatami. The precise dates would be specified through diplomatic channels."
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