We agree on need to respect religions: Iran FM after Delhi talks

By Trend

Hours after his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister H Amirabdollahian said the two countries agree on the need to “respect divine religions”, “Islamic sanctities” and “avoid divisive statements”, Trend reports citing The Indian EXPRESS.

Iran was among the Islamic countries which condemned the remarks against the Prophet by the now-suspended and expelled BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal.

Hours after his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister H Amirabdollahian said the two countries agree on the need to “respect divine religions”, “Islamic sanctities” and “avoid divisive statements.”

Iran was among the Islamic countries which condemned the remarks against the Prophet by the now-suspended and expelled BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry, in a statement on the minister’s meeting with top Shia and Sunni scholars, said he “also talked about the insults against the holy Prophet of Islam and expressed deep regret about the upsetting incident.”

Condemning the statements, he said “India has been a land of compassion and tolerance and is always a refuge and a front for different viewpoints” and “such raucous clamour neither suits India nor is rooted in India, and surely followers of all religions in the Indian territory oppose such comments.” This, the statement said, “was a point conversed about clearly, and in different manners, by Indian officials during this visit.”

On Thursday, asked whether the issue of the remarks against the Prophet was discussed during the Iranian minister’s talks, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “My understanding is that this issue was not raised during that conversation” with Jaishankar.