India – Iran Relations | UPSC Mains: International Relations PDF Download

Introduction

• India-Iran relations span centuries marked by meaningful interactions. The two countries shared a border till 1947 and share several common features in their language, culture, and traditions. Both South Asia and the Persian Gulf have strong commercial, energy, cultural, and people-to-people links.
• Independent India and Iran established diplomatic links on 15 March 1950. The Shah visited India in February/March 1956, and Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited Iran in September 1959. Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi visited Iran in April 1974, and Prime Minister Shri Morarji Desai visited in June 1977. The Shah, in turn, visited India in February 1978.
• The Iranian Revolution in 1979 introduced a new phase of engagement marked by high-level visits, including Indian Prime Minister Shri Narasimha Rao in September 1993, Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in April 1995, and Indian Vice President Shri K. R. Narayanan in October 1996. The trend was consolidated with visits by Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee in 2001 and President Mohammad Khatami in 2003, when he was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day function. The Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited India on 29 April 2008. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Iran in May 2016, signing 12 MoUs and issuing the “Civilizational Connect, Contemporary Context” joint statement. Recent engagements include External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar’s visits in July and August 2021, and January 2024, meeting President Ebrahim Raisi; Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to India in June 2022; Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar’s visit in May 2024 to pay condolences for President Raisi’s demise; Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s visit in May 2024 for the Chabahar Port contract signing; Minister Nitin Gadkari’s attendance at President Masoud Pezeshkian’s swearing-in in July 2024; Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with President Pezeshkian at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia in October 2024; and Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Seyyed Abbas Araghchi’s Hawkins in May 2025 for the 20th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM).
• The two countries have several bilateral consultative mechanisms, including the India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM), with the 20th JCM held in May 2025 in New Delhi, co-chaired by Dr. Jaishankar and Dr. Araghchi, resulting in MoUs on customs and pharmaceuticals. The Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) and Iran’s Institute of Political and International Studies (IPIS) hold regular roundtables to exchange views on bilateral and multilateral issues.

Economic

• India-Iran economic and commercial ties have been impacted by U.S. sanctions since 2018, halting India’s crude oil imports from Iran in 2019. Bilateral trade, which reached $233 billion in 2022-23 (Indian exports $119 billion, imports $102 billion), includes Indian exports of rice, tea, sugar, pharmaceuticals, and organic chemicals, and Iranian exports of dry fruits, inorganic/organic chemicals, and glassware. Trade dropped to $2 billion in 2020-21 due to sanctions but has since recovered.
• Key projects include the Chabahar Port, where India signed a 10-year contract in May 2024 to operate the Shahid Beheshti terminal, investing $120 million and offering a $250 million credit line. The Chabahar-Zaranj railway project has progressed independently by Iran due to Indian delays. Joint ventures like the Madras Fertilizer Company and Chennai Refinery continue. Indian companies like ESSAR and OVL have a limited presence due to sanctions. The State Bank of India maintains a representative office in Tehran. India is a member of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), partially operational but delayed by regional tensions in 2025. The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) is in force, while the Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA) status remains under negotiation.
• India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM): The 20th JCM was held in New Delhi on May 2025, co-chaired by Iran’s Foreign Minister Dr. Seyyed Abbas Araghchi and India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. MoUs on customs and pharmaceuticals were signed. Discussions covered trade, connectivity, and counter-terrorism.
• Joint Business Council (JBC): India and Iran hold regular JBC meetings. Recent meetings have focused on reviving trade, with India exploring rupee-rial trade to bypass U.S. sanctions, following the Reserve Bank of India’s 2022 decision to allow international trade in Indian rupees.

Culture and Education

• India and Iran maintain robust cultural and educational exchanges. A 2008 MoU between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization facilitated “Days of Culture” events, with Iran’s cultural week in New Delhi and Mumbai in 2008, and India’s in Tehran and Shiraz in 2011. The Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC), established in Tehran in 2013, promotes Indian culture. Iran operates cultural centers in Delhi and Mumbai. India recognized Farsi as a classical language in 2025. Approximately 8,000 Iranian students study in India, primarily in Pune and Bengaluru, with India providing 67 scholarships annually under ITEC, ICCR, Colombo Plan, and IOR-ARC schemes.
• Around 40,000 Iranian tourists visit India annually for tourism and other purposes, a trend consistent through 2025.

The Indian Community in Iran

• The Indian community in Iran includes approximately 4,000 nationals, with 80-100 households in Tehran, 13-15 families in Zahedan, 2,800 theological students in Qom, Esfahan, and Mashhad, and 200 professionals in private firms. Indian schools run by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan operate in Tehran and Zahedan.

2024-25 figures are provisional as of 2025.