Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian will be coming to New Delhi to attend the BRICS Leaders’ Summit — in what would be his first visit to India as the President. He will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday evening.

This will be the first visit by an Iranian President in more than eight years, since President Hassan Rouhani visited India in February 2018.

Pezeshkian’s visit comes at a time when Iran is fighting a war with the US and Israel. In the last six months, Iran has survived the war, but has suffered in the process.

Story continues below.
Subscribe to see fewer ads.

The visit is also significant since Iran and the UAE have not yet been able to arrive at a common position on the diplomatic language for the BRICS Delhi Declaration.  BRICS Sherpas — the seniormost negotiators — from India, Russia, Brazil and Egypt are trying hard to convince both UAE and Iran to reach a consensus.

Modi and Pezeshkian had met just 10 days ago, on August 31 (for the first time since the war in West Asia began), in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders’ summit. Modi and Pezeshkian have had at least two telephone conversations in the last six months.

At that meeting, Modi had expressed “concern at the escalation of tensions” in the region and reiterated that all issues must be resolved through “dialogue and diplomacy”.

Pezeshkian, had in turn, asked Modi to “use India’s extensive contacts with various parties to help them move away from the path of war and bloodshed and return to the path of dialogue and agreement”. He had cited India’s “important position and capacities” in the region and the world, as well as the deep historical and cultural ties between the two countries.

Story continues below this ad

Modi had reiterated the need for continued efforts to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region, and had called for safeguarding the freedom of navigation and commerce – so that civilians and civilian infrastructure, including commercial shipping and seafarers, are not harmed. Delhi has been concerned about the attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and that is expected to be flagged again. The meeting is going to take place in the backdrop of fresh fighting between US and Iran, after weeks of the fragile ceasefire holding.