Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi discussed on Friday developing bilateral ties during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Friday.  

"Productive first meeting between PM @narendramodi and President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran. Discussed our wide-ranging bilateral relations and reviewed the progress in the development of Chabahar Port," Bagchi wrote on Twitter.    

Productive first meeting between PM @narendramodi and President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran.

Discussed our wide-ranging bilateral relations and reviewed the progress in the development of Chabahar Port.

Also discussed international and regional developments including Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/vpuDCGWo7V

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) September 16, 2022

The leaders also discussed a wide range of regional and international issues, including the situation in Afghanistan, the spokesperson added. 

India has been the major investor in the Chabahar port project, the only deep-sea port in Iran with direct access to the Indian Ocean, being of geostrategic importance. India and Iran announced in 2016 that India would invest $500 million into the port's development. The two countries have been recently negotiating a long-term agreement on operations at the port.  

Held wide-ranging discussions with President Ebrahim Raisi. We talked about the growing India-Iran friendship and the scope to boost ties in sectors like energy, commerce and connectivity. pic.twitter.com/jrGI6ut7kM

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 16, 2022

After two days of talks held in Samarkand, the SCO summit ended by adopting a joint declaration, in which the member nations agreed that the SCO is not intended against other governments or international organizations and that they are against any interference in nations' internal affairs under the pretense of anti-terrorism and anti-extremism measures the declaration noted.

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The SCO summit declaration included several other matters, such as the JCPOA, the militarization of the IT sector, the global missile defense systems, chemical weapons, the World Trade Organization, and terrorism.

Iran foreign policy focus is max contact with regional states: Raisi

Iran's foreign policy focus is on maximum connection and interaction with regional countries, including the SCO members, and efficient participation in regional and international arrangements, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in his speech at the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on Friday.

Iran considers important arrangements like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS grouping, which shows the country's interest in taking part in the aligned countries' efforts to establish a fair international system based on participation, President Raisi said, describing the SCO as Asia's symbol of "the great civilizational family," which can open new horizons of regional integration and security-ensuring cooperations based on justice, respect, and spirituality.

Raisi also emphasized deepening economic multilateralism as Iran’s strategy, saying that it has been seriously threatened by the US, which has put an extensive use of "coercion" on its agenda and uses bullying to force its demands and internal laws on other countries and the international system.

The SCO needs new approaches in fighting unilateralism and cruel sanctions, President Raisi said, such as the "formation of sustainable trade among the members of this Organisation, which itself requires the joint development of infrastructure in the field of financial exchanges, commodity exchanges and data exchange between countries."

He then urged SCO members to finance logistic and trade facilitating projects and stressed the important role of interbank transactions and the acceleration of free trade agreements and customs cooperation.

“In addition, the China-Central Asia-West Asia-Mediterranean Sea Corridor, which has high potential, is currently described as an important part of the solution for the development of trade between East and West Eurasia. With the cooperation of the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, it is possible to provide the necessary grounds for the implementation of this corridor and for the members to benefit from its advantages,” he added.

The Iranian President also voiced Tehran's readiness to host the SCO healthcare cooperation secretariat and invited the SCO health minister to attend the first SCO health meeting in December.