New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday spoke to his newly-appointed Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian, and discussed the situation in Afghanistan as well as bilateral issues.
Iran’s parliament last week approved the appointment of Amirabdollahian as the country’s foreign minister in the new cabinet of President Ebrahim Raisi.
Amirabdollahian, who served as Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs between 2011 and 2016, succeeded Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“A warm congratulatory call to Iranian FM @Amirabdolahian. Agreed to strengthen our bilateral cooperation. Discussed pressing regional issues. Appreciate Iran’s facilitation of our repatriation flights from Afghanistan,” Jaishankar tweeted.
It is learnt that the current situation in Afghanistan figured in the conversation between the two foreign ministers.
Last month, Jaishankar represented India at the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected Iranian President Raisi in Tehran, in reflection of the importance India attaches to its ties with Iran.
Raisi, a hardliner and known to be close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, won the presidential election in June by a landslide.
Iran has been playing a key role in the Afghan peace process and hosted intra-Afghan peace talks in Tehran.
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