NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani agreed on Saturday to step up efforts to bring stability to war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Modi reiterated India’s commitment to help Afghanistan become “a peaceful, secure, permanent, prosperous and pluralistic country” after holding talks with Rouhani in New Delhi on the last day of his three-day visit.
“Looking at our common interests, we are committed to stopping the expansion of such forces that promote international organized crime in terrorism, extremism, illegal drug trafficking, cybercrime and various forms,” Modi said
“We want to see our region and the world free from terrorism.”
There was no mention of financial assistance or providing weapons to help Afghanistan fight militants by either leader.
They did not name Pakistan but it has long been accused of supporting insurgents in Afghanistan.
India has been a key supporter of Kabul’s government and has poured more than $2 billion into the country since the Taliban were toppled in 2001.
In 2016, India offered $1 billion in economic aid to strengthen various sectors in the war-torn nation including education, health and agriculture.
Modi said both countries wanted to increase economic cooperation, regional connectivity and improve energy security to reach landlocked Afghanistan and central Asia via the southern Iranian port of Chabahar.
The port, which was inaugurated in December, has been touted as a way for India to establish trade routes that bypass its rival Pakistan.
India has been a key purchaser of Iranian oil and gas, and maintained trade ties even as international sanctions were imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program between 2012 and 2016.
However, local Indian media have reported frustrations over delays in awarding a contract to develop a major gas field known as Farzad B in the Gulf.
India’s foreign ministry said Saturday that “discussions continue” on Farzad B.
The two leaders also signed agreements for avoidance of double taxation and the implementation of an extradition treaty from 2008.
As part of a lease contract, India will help Iran run a multi-purpose container terminal at Chabahar for 18 months.
India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a three-way transit agreement in 2016 to develop Chabahar port aiming to boost economic growth in the region.
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India, Iran agree to step up efforts to help Afghanistan
India, Iran agree to step up efforts to help Afghanistan
Myanmar expels East Timor envoy after rights group complaint against junta
- Myanmar has been in turmoil since 2021, when the military ousted the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
Myanmar has ordered the head of East Timor’s diplomatic mission to leave the country within seven days, state media quoted the foreign ministry as saying on Monday, in an escalating row over a criminal complaint filed by a rights group against Myanmar’s armed forces.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since 2021, when the military ousted the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a wave of anti-junta protests that have morphed into a nationwide civil war.
Myanmar’s Chin state Human Rights Organization (CHRO) last month filed a complaint with the justice department of East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, alleging that the Myanmar junta had carried out war crimes and crimes against humanity since the 2021 coup.
In January, CHRO officials also met East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta, who last year led the tiny Catholic nation’s accession into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is also a member.
CHRO filed the complaint in East Timor because it was seeking an ASEAN member with an independent judiciary as well as a country that would be sympathetic to the suffering of Chin State’s majority Christian population, the group’s Executive Director Salai Za Uk said.
“Such unconstructive engagement by a Head of State of one ASEAN Member State with an unlawful organization opposing another ASEAN Member State is totally unacceptable,” the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
A spokesman for the Myanmar junta did not respond to calls seeking comment.
In early February, CHRO said East Timor’s judicial authorities had opened legal proceedings against the Myanmar junta, including its chief Min Aung Hlaing, following the complaint filed by the rights group.
Myanmar’s foreign ministry said East Timor’s acceptance of the case and the country’s appointment of a prosecutor to look into it resulted in “setting an unprecedented practice, negative interpretation and escalation of (public) resentments.”
East Timor’s embassy in Myanmar did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via email.
The diplomatic spat comes as the Myanmar military faces international scrutiny for its role in an alleged genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya in a case being heard at the International Court of Justice.
Myanmar has denied the charge.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since 2021, when the military ousted the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a wave of anti-junta protests that have morphed into a nationwide civil war.
Myanmar’s Chin state Human Rights Organization (CHRO) last month filed a complaint with the justice department of East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, alleging that the Myanmar junta had carried out war crimes and crimes against humanity since the 2021 coup.
In January, CHRO officials also met East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta, who last year led the tiny Catholic nation’s accession into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is also a member.
CHRO filed the complaint in East Timor because it was seeking an ASEAN member with an independent judiciary as well as a country that would be sympathetic to the suffering of Chin State’s majority Christian population, the group’s Executive Director Salai Za Uk said.
“Such unconstructive engagement by a Head of State of one ASEAN Member State with an unlawful organization opposing another ASEAN Member State is totally unacceptable,” the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
A spokesman for the Myanmar junta did not respond to calls seeking comment.
In early February, CHRO said East Timor’s judicial authorities had opened legal proceedings against the Myanmar junta, including its chief Min Aung Hlaing, following the complaint filed by the rights group.
Myanmar’s foreign ministry said East Timor’s acceptance of the case and the country’s appointment of a prosecutor to look into it resulted in “setting an unprecedented practice, negative interpretation and escalation of (public) resentments.”
East Timor’s embassy in Myanmar did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via email.
The diplomatic spat comes as the Myanmar military faces international scrutiny for its role in an alleged genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya in a case being heard at the International Court of Justice.
Myanmar has denied the charge.
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