Excellency, it is a great pleasure to welcome you and your delegation to India and to co-chair along with you, the 20th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting today.
In recent years, our cooperation has progressed in many aspects. There are also situations that we need to address. Prime Minister Modi and President Pezeshkian have met in Kazan in October 2024 and given us guidance on how to develop our ties further. They have also had a phone conversation on 26 April.
Excellency, this is the 75th anniversary of our diplomatic ties. It is a reminder of the closeness of our collaboration and the deep friendship between us. I am sure that we will mark the anniversary appropriately.
Excellency, you are visiting India at a time when we are responding to a particularly barbaric terrorist attack on 22 April in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This attack compelled us to respond on 7th May by striking at cross-border terrorist infrastructure. Our response was targeted and measured. It is not our intention to escalate this situation. However, if there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very very firm response. As a neighbour and close partner, it is important that you have a good understanding of this situation.
Once again, a very warm welcome to Delhi and I invite you for your opening remarks.
New Delhi
May 08, 2025