The joint virtual session between the Iranian Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) and India’s Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies about the regional, bilateral and international issues was held on Monday, May 24, 2021.  

The session was attended by Dr.Mohammad KazemSajjadpour, Deputy Minister of MOFA & President of IPIS; Mr.Majid Ghafelebashi, Research Deputy at the Center; Gholamali khoshroo, Former Iranian Representative to the UN; Hossein Ebrahim Khani and Saeid Ghaderi, Senior Experts at IPIS; Seyedmohammad Deldari, Expert at the Third South Asia Department of Foreign Ministry, on one side

And,

Mr. Arvin Gupta, President of Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies; D.P. Srivastava, Amar Sinh, Tilak Devashr and Sujit Dutta, Senior Experts of the said institute, on the other side.   

The session was held in the form of two panels, “Bilateral and Regional Issues: Iran-India Relations, with Focus on Afghanistan, Persian Gulf and South Asia Developments”, and “International Issues, with Focus on the JCPOA, China-India and Iran-China relations.”

Here are the most important issues touched upon at the session:

• Iran and India have always enjoyed close ties with each other. The interests of Iran-India ties are mutual. Iran is a rich country in hydrocarbon resources and India is in need of energy to economically develop. Also, considering the strategic position, Iran is India’s entry gate to Afghanistan and Central Asia. Also, India is a vast market for Iranian products. Both countries cooperate at multilateral world institutes such as the Non-Aligned Movement and the UN. Generally, the most important areas of cooperation between Iran and India are as follows: Trade, investment, especially in energy, tourism, advanced technologies, cultural exchanges and drugs and medical issues.
• The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Pivot to the East approach is a social issue. Within this framework, India, Indonesia, China and Asian countries are of importance. Iran’s policy toward Asia is original and independent of the influence and impact of other agents. The focal point of said strategy towards Asia is based on developmental and economic cooperation, not military and security strategies. In this regard, Iran and China’s participation is not against any country (for example against India, Europe and regional countries.)
• Trump’s unilateral policy quickly turned into the “America first” and the “Trump first” policy, which was dangerous for world’s peace and stability. The “America first” policy was a blatant confrontation with the world community which fanned the flames of extremism, hatred, populism, threats and sanctions. The JCPOA was the best model of multilateral negotiations which had the unanimous support of the UNSC. The US unilateral withdrawal from the said agreement was not only a unilateral step, but also an economic war against the world, Europe, India and China. For the first time in the history of the UN, a permanent member of the UNSC sanctioned the governments and companies that implemented the 2231 resolution of this council. The Islamic Republic of Iran has acceptably implemented the testing requirements of its commitments, while being deprived of its rights, due to the US wrong policies.