India forms trilateral with Iran, Armenia
New Delhi, April 21
India is trying to entrench itself in the shifting sands of Caucasian geopolitics by holding the first meeting with Iran and Armenia, heralding the evolution of a new trilateral on the world stage with security implications.
The first trilateral political consultation among senior diplomats from the three countries was held in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Thursday, with India represented by MEA Joint Secretary JP Singh.
“During the meeting, the three nations discussed economic matters and regional communication channels, outlined the prospects of deepening cultural and people-to-people contacts as well as trilateral cooperation in several fields,” said an Armenian readout.
Armenia is locked in a military confrontation with Azerbaijan, which so far has had an upper hand with the support provided by Pakistan, Turkey and Israel. Yerevan has angered its benefactor Russia by stating that Vladimir Putin could be arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant if he came to Armenia.
India has supplied military grade radars and military components to Armenia.
The trilateral decided to “continue consultations” and discussed the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a freight corridor connecting India, Iran and Russia, which may reduce costs and time in transporting goods from Mumbai to Moscow.
A large Armenian delegation led by Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan had visited India last month for the Raisina Dialogue as well as for confabulations with the Foreign Office and the security establishment.
