Iran is willing to mediate between India and Pakistan if asked to play a role, said Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Saturday.
Pitching for regional connectivity and shared prosperity in South Asia, Mr. Zarif strongly argued against terrorism and said that Iran was partnering with India to stabilise Afghanistan.
“Iran is a close friend of India as well as Pakistan. We would like the relations between our friends to improve. We are ready to do whatever we can, if both our friends so desire,” said Mr. Zarif at a think tank event.
Mr. Zarif was in Delhi before proceeding to Amritsar, where he will participate in the Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan.
He said that India and Iran were working to provide Afghanistan with access to the port of Chahbahar which will help address “root causes” of Afghan crisis.
“Afghan economy is an informal war economy based on war-lordism and drug trade,” said Mr. Zarif and added, “we are working with India to create a formal economy in Afghanistan and the port of Chahbahar built in Iran will provide Afghanistan with access to global market, where it can sell iron ore and other minerals which would help create a formal economy in the country.”
Global terrorism
Speaking at the event organised by Observer Research Foundation and the embassy of Iran, the Minister spoke in detail about global terrorism and said that support to terrorism was unacceptable. “Demagogues are exploiting alienation and insecurity as the demand for respect for some people is not being addressed,” he said arguing that religion had nothing to do with terrorism as terror acts were also being committed in atheistic societies.
Pitching for dialogue and peace talks in conflict zones, Mr. Zarif said that supporting terrorism would not bring the desired results and would further jeopardise the global security scenario. “No agreement is sustainable if one side gains and other side loses. An agreement has to be a win-win situation,” he said showcasing strength of diplomacy.
“Diplomats usually reach the right option after exhausting all the wrong options,” said Mr. Zarif arguing for diplomacy and mediation to solve the enduring conflicts of the world like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan.
