Joint Webinar with the Indian Gatvi Hos Institute of Studies (GH)

The joint virtual meeting between the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) and the Indian Institute for Political and international studies (GH)about bilateral, regional and international issues was held on Wednesday , September 29.

 The joint virtual meeting between the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) and the Indian Institute for Political and international studies   (GH)about bilateral, regional and international issues was held on Wednesday , September 29. The meeting was attended by Mr.Majid Ghafelebashi, Research Deputy of IPIS; Morteza Abutalebi, Former Iranian Ambassador to Romania; Mashaallah Shakeri,  Former Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan; and Mr.Vallabh Bansali, Mr.Rajiv Bhatia, Amit Bhandari, Ms.Saloni Kapur, Senior Experts of the GH institute.

The meeting was held in the form of two panels, " Trade Ties between Iran and India", " Looking into Developments in West Asia and Afghanistan", to answer the following questions: 1) What are the main trends of relations between Iran and India? How can India and Iran revive their economic partnership? What are the challenges ahead of the Chah Bahar project? What is Iran's landscape of the Belt and Road initiative? 2) What are the perspectives of Iran and India of the security situation in West Asia? How can both countries cooperate to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan? Is there an opportunity for the two countries' cooperation against the emerging situation in Afghanistan?

 Here are the topics touched upon at the session:

• The Iran/India ties enjoy an old, historical and deep status on all political, economic and cultural dimensions. The two countries' relations have been expanding over many years , despite some problems, including the oppressive and unilateral US sanctions against the Iranian nation. The meetings of the heads of the two countries as well as exchanging diplomatic and trade delegations confirm this reality.
•  The Iran/India ties have considerably progressed in recent years, especially in the economic sector. One of the symbols of expansion of ties between the two countries is the Chah Bahar Port project. This project, despite numerous problems, is still a symbol of the bilateral relations, which of course the occurrence of some regional crises like the developments in Afghanistan can create new challenges for which must be resolved through joint understanding.
•  The world today is faced with numerous geopolitical and strategic  changes and developments. The West Asia region, too, is not away from these developments and we have witnessed many more changes in this region than other regions. The US withdrawal from the JCPOA, the Abrahamic Accords between Israel and some Arab states and the agreement between Qatar and four Arab states are among these changes. However, Iran and India, despite these developments will continue their cooperation to secure peace and security in the region.