Modi kicks off Iran tour with visit to gurdwara

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Iran on a two-day visit today. In the evening, he met a delegation of Sikhs and paid obeisance at a gurdwara there.

"We Indians have a specialty. We accept everyone and assimilate with everyone," Modi said while addressing a community gathering at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Tehran. "The new generation should know about the sacrifices of the great (Sikh) Gurus and about the Guru Granth Sahib," he said. The gurdwara was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha.

Modi is set to sign the Chabahar port deal with Iran and Afghanistan on Monday.

He was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by country’s Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for local Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara.

“Starting with the  cultural connect... PM @narendramodi at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Tehran,” the PMO tweeted.

During the visit, the PM will meet President Hassan Rouhani and country’s supreme religious and political leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Indian Embassy in Tehran in collaboration with Iran’s Farhangistan and Sadi foundation will organise a three-day cultural festival in conjunction with the PM’s visit.

Modi will attend the inaugural session of the conference on May 23 which would be followed by a sitar concert. The PM will also release a manuscript, “Kalileh wa Dimneh” — an old translation into Persian of Panchatantra and Jataka. Also on display will be an exhibition of digital manuscripts, a sitar and tar recital and a session of Persian poetry recitation where Indian and Iranian poets will come together. In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister before his departure said: “I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today and tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani”. 

“I also look forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during my visit.”

The Chabahar port deal is a historic and significant step forward for India. The port will provide land-locked Afghanistan an alternative port to Karachi and for India, it will give it greater access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. For Pakistan, this is a bitter pill as the Chabahar port will give India a strategic advantage in the region.