‘It’s for India to decide’: Araghchi on India-Gulf ties after Iran-UAE friction during Brics meet

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said India was free to determine its own relations with the UAE, stressing that Tehran’s priority was maintaining strong ties with New Delhi.

Addressing a press briefing on the sidelines of Brics summit in New Delhi, Araghchi said India’s foreign policy decisions were its own sovereign matter.

“India has relations with so many countries and it is for India to decide its relations. What matters to us is India’s relations with Iran,” he said, referring to New Delhi’s ties with the UAE.

The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran attached “great importance” to its partnership with India, describing both nations as ancient civilisations with longstanding historical ties.

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“Iran and India are two ancient civilizations that have always shared very good relations and exchanged cultural values. We have enjoyed strong trade and economic cooperation, as well as very good political relations and consultations,” Araghchi said.

“We are certainly determined to continue our friendly and strong relations with India for the benefit of both sides, based on mutual interest and mutual respect,” he added.

Araghchi also praised the hospitality extended by the Indian government during the Brics summit and acknowledged his close coordination with Jaishankar during the recent conflict involving Iran.

“We have been in touch over the past two months while the war, or, better to say, the act of aggression against my country, was going on. We have remained in close contact and consulted with each other,” he said.

He also thanked India for organising the Brics meeting and appreciated New Delhi’s expression of solidarity with the Iranian people during the crisis.

The two-day Brics Foreign Ministers’ meeting concluded without a joint statement because of what host India described as “differing views among some members” on the situation in West Asia.

India said member nations expressed “their respective national positions and shared a range of perspectives” on issues including sovereignty, maritime security and the protection of civilian infrastructure and lives in the region.

The Indian statement also carried a footnote noting that “a member had reservations” regarding sections dealing with Gaza and security in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Brics currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, the UAE and Indonesia.

Differences within the grouping have become more pronounced during the Iran conflict, particularly between Iran and the UAE.

On Thursday, Araghchi had urged Brics nations to condemn the US and Israel over what he described as their “unlawful aggression” against Iran and called on member states to resist the “politicisation” of international institutions.

With inputs from agencies