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Foreign Secretary Rao back home after quiet visit to Iran | Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao today returned home after undertaking a quite two-day visit to Iran.
She visited Iran for foreign office consultations and strategic dialogue. This
was her first visit to that country as foreign secretary. According to well-informed
sources, Rao had extensive discussions with her Iranian counterpart and Deputy
Foreign Minister Dr. Mohammad Ali Fathollahi on Afghanistan and cross-border
terrorism
from Pakistan Her visit comes close on the heels of last month's London conference
on Afghanistan, which Iran boycotted. India and Iran share similar views on
Afghanistan
and have advocated that there is no good Taliban and bad Taliban, and therefore,
any reconciliation with the Taliban is out of the question. Indicating a recent
shift in policy, India grudgingly accepted the decision of some sort of reintegration
of Taliban during the London conference. Keeping in view its strong relationship
with Iran, India as a major regional player, has been entrusted by the West, mainly
the US and NATO, the responsibility of bringing Iran on board on the issue. The
Indian foreign secretary's visit to Iran can thus be seen in this light, according
to informed sources. Rao, who is soon expected to meet her Pakistani counterpart
Salman Bashir, is said to have discussed the issue of cross-border terrorism with
her Iranian counterpart in great detail, according to sources. Both India and
Iran are on the same page on this issue, as both are victims of Pakistan-based
terrorism. Six officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were killed by the
Pakistan-based terror outfit Jundola in October last year, and there are
apprehensions
in New Delhi and Tehran that the rising Talibanisation of Pakistan can have a
spillover effect, which needs to be contained. Another objective of Rao's visit
to Iran was to prepare the ground for the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh's
proposed visit to Iran next month, sources said. During her visit, Rao also called
on Iran Foreign Minister Dr. Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini, Economy and Finance
Minister
Shamsoddin Hosseini and Dr. Saeed Jalili, Secretary of the Supreme National
Security Council. |
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