Iranian Foreign Ministerย Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who is in New Delhi to attend the two-day BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting, travelled aboard an aircraft named “Minab168”, a symbolic reference to the 168 girls killed in a missile strike on a school in the southern Iranian city of Minab during the US-Israel war on Iran.ย
Araghchi arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday on a three-day official visit to India. This is the first high-level diplomatic engagement from Tehran since the outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran more than two months ago.
Araghchi to hold talks withย Jaishankar
The two-day talks, scheduled for May 14 and 15, will be chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Besides participating in the multilateral talks, Araghchi is also expected to hold extensive bilateral discussions with Indian counterpart Jaishankar, with the escalating tensions arising from the US-Israel conflict with Iran likely to dominate the agenda.
The two leaders had previously engaged in at least four high-level discussions regarding the turmoil in West Asia, where Araghchi advocated for BRICS collaboration to safeguard international order while reaffirming Tehran’s “legitimate right of self-defence.”
Araghchi and other foreign ministers of the BRICS member states are also scheduled to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
What’s on Aragchi’s Agenda?
The situation surrounding the Strait of Hormuz is expected to feature prominently in bilateral talks between Araghchi and Jaishankar. New Delhi is likely to press for the safe passage of remaining merchant vessels through the strategic waterway, people familiar with the matter told the news agency PTI.ย
The escalating crisis in West Asia and its impact on the global energy supply chain are expected to dominate deliberations at the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting.
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