H.E. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, Minister for External Affairs of India, will visit Tehran from 31st October to 2nd November 2008

1. This will be the third visit of the Minister to Tehran in about the last year and a half. His delegation includes senior officers from the Ministries of External Affairs, Finance, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Civil Aviation, Communications & Information Technology, Mines, Science & Technology, Railways, Shipping, etc and representatives of the public and private sectors of India as well as of media, academics and think tanks. The total strength of the delegation will be about 45 persons.

2. During the visit, H.E. Mr. Mukherjee will co-chair the 15th Session of the the Indo-Iranian Joint Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation with H.E. Mr. Syed Shamseddin Hosseini, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 1st November 2008. This Session of the Joint Commission will comprehensively review Indo-Iranian bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation and set directions for further strengthening and expanding the cooperation. It may be mentioned that bilateral trade between the two countries grew by nearly 80 per cent in 2007-08 and has reached the level of US$ 12.986 billion in March 2008. Of this, India exports goods worth US$ 1.937 billion to Iran and imports goods worth US$ 11.049 billion from Iran. India’s imports from Iran include crude oil and petroleum products worth US$ 10.06 billion and India’s exports include export of petroleum products worth US$ 850 million. There has also been an increasing interest in the Indian public and private sectors in investing in Iran. The companies such as Tatas, Essar, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Gas Authority of India Limited, etc are already present in Iran in sectors such as oil and gas, mines and metallurgy, steel, etc.

3. During the visit, there will also be a meeting of the Joint Business Council on 1st November 2008. H.E. Mr. Mukherjee and H.E. Mr. SyedShamseddin Hosseini will jointly inaugurate the meeting which will be attended by some 100 representatives of business communities of India and Iran which have been arranged under the auspices of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the Iranian Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The Joint Business Council will also include business-to-business meetings between different companies.

4. On 2nd November 2008, H.E. Mr. Mukherjee will jointly inaugurate with his Iranian counterpart H.E. Mr. Manouchehr Mottaki a seminar on Indo-Iranian relations at the Institute of Political & International Studies (IPIS). Representatives of think-tanks, media, academics and government from both countries will participate in the day-long seminar and discuss the bilateral relations and prospects for future cooperation at bilateral, regional and international levels.

5. During his stay in Tehran, H.E. Mr. Mukherjee is expected to meet senior Iranian dignitaries and discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest and concern. The two sides will also sign a number of agreements & MoUs during the visit. These documents will further strengthen the legal framework for their bilateral cooperation.

6. India and Iran share historical and civilizational ties and have multi-faceted relations in economic, scientific, technological, trade and cultural spheres. As stated above, bilateral trade has been increasing as have been the people-to-people contacts between the two countries. There are more than 8,000 Iranian students studying in Indian institutions of higher studies, which forms an important aspect of their overall relations. Similarly, the decades long Indian community in Iran has contributed to expansion of trade and economic as well as people-to-people ties between the two countries. This visit of Mr. Mukherjee will help further consolidate and expand these relations between India and Iran.

Tehran

21 January 2009