Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has held talks with his Azeri counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, on sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in Tajikistan.
During a meeting in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe on Tuesday, the top diplomats exchanged views on the latest developments in the Caucasus region, Tehran- Baku cooperation regarding the Caspian Sea, and other political and economic issues of mutual interest.
#Iran FM @JZarif met foreign ministers of #Afghanistan, #India and the president of #Tajikistan on Monday. Zarif is in Dushanbe to attend the 'Heart of Asia' conference. pic.twitter.com/ekcVF5mtGU
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) March 29, 2021
Zarif arrived in Dushanbe on Monday to meet with Tajik officials and take part in the 9th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) ministerial conference, which was first launched in the Turkish city of Istanbul in 2011 to help find a solution to the challenges facing Afghanistan.
Fifteen countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan Republic, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, participate in the process, while another 17 states and 12 regional and international organizations support it.
The previous meetings of the Heart of Asia conference were held from 2011 to 2019 in Istanbul, Kabul, Almaty, Beijing, Islamabad, Amritsar, Baku and Istanbul.
#Iran FM @JZarif met foreign ministers of #Afghanistan, #India and the president of #Tajikistan on Monday. Zarif is in Dushanbe to attend the 'Heart of Asia' conference. pic.twitter.com/ekcVF5mtGU
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) March 29, 2021
On Monday, Zarif met with Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon. The two sides discussed bilateral ties in various fields such as economy, trade, energy, industry, transportation, science and culture, stressing the important role of the Iran-Tajikistan Joint Commission on Cooperation.
The Iranian foreign minister also held talks with his Indian and Afghan counterparts, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Mohammad Hanif Atmar, as well as Kairat Sarybay, executive director of the secretariat of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
This article has been adapted from its original source.
