'New' India-'New' Iran must understand one another India and Iran must understand each other in the full range of their political, economic, social and cultural perspectives and put to use this understanding in the context of the changing contours of the international environment, according to Mr. Brajesh Mishra, National Security Advisor and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India.
ORF International Conference on
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India and Iran share centuries of close cultural and civilizational affinities. The two countries have long influenced each other in the fields of culture, art, architecture and language. Close links between the two countries have continued over into the present era.
Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao paid a landmark visit in September 1993, as the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The visit was termed as a "turning point in bilateral relations" by the then President Rafsanjani who in turn paid a State visit to India from 17-19 April 1995. Expansion of bilateral economic, technical and cultural cooperation, greater people to people contacts and sustained high-level exchanges have followed these visits.
These high-level, sustained and diverse interactions with Iran have led to better understanding on various bilateral, regional and international issues. The New Delhi Declaration issued after the visit of President Khatami in January 2003 described Indo-Iranian relations as "a strategic relationship". This perception has been the culmination of the cooperation that has developed between the two countries over the past decade and more as the two countries recognized the potential for fruitful cooperation in the political, economic, commercial and technical fields.
Iran's sizeable energy reserves and India's large and growing energy demand, Iran's skilled human and other resources together with India's strengths in industrial and managerial know-how and science and technology makes the two countries natural partners for long-term economic cooperation. India is a favoured destination for many Iranian students and Iranian officials are being trained in fields ranging from banking to diplomacy in India.
The initiative taken by ORF to organize an international conference on Iran to coincide with the celebration of 25 years after the Islamic Revolution in Iran is an appropriate occasion to study the changes that have come about in Iran during this period and assess the fruits of the close cooperation India and Iran have shared over all these years.
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