Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi met All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in New Delhi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit, in an interaction that has drawn attention to Tehran’s engagement with the Kashmir issue.
Mirwaiz met Pezeshkian during the Iranian president’s visit to the national capital for the BRICS summit.
He later also met Araghchi, with the discussions taking place against the backdrop of ongoing tensions in West Asia and renewed international calls for dialogue and diplomacy.
Following his meeting with Pezeshkian, Mirwaiz said that lasting peace could only be achieved through justice. He stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy while speaking about conflicts and the need to find peaceful solutions.
“Peace can only be established when there is justice,” Mirwaiz said, according to news agency ANI.
His remarks came as Iran itself remains at the centre of heightened geopolitical tensions, with Pezeshkian using his BRICS engagements in New Delhi to speak about Iran’s position on the ongoing conflict in West Asia and its opposition to what he described as pressure from the United States and Israel.
The meeting with Mirwaiz is significant because Iran has historically maintained an interest in the Kashmir issue, while India’s position has been that Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
The interaction in New Delhi therefore comes at a time when India and Iran are simultaneously engaging on broader regional issues through bilateral and multilateral platforms.
Pezeshkian’s presence in New Delhi was for the BRICS Summit, where he held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders.
Iran has also backed stronger cooperation within BRICS, including greater economic and financial cooperation among member countries.
Araghchi, meanwhile, praised India’s leadership of BRICS and said Tehran was confident that India could lead the grouping effectively.
Mirwaiz’s interaction with the Iranian leadership also comes as BRICS leaders discuss a range of global and regional issues, including conflicts, international security and the need for greater cooperation among countries of the Global South.
The meetings in New Delhi are therefore notable not only for the individuals involved but also for the diplomatic setting in which they took place.
With Iran seeking a stronger role within BRICS and India hosting the summit, the interaction brought Tehran’s longstanding engagement with Kashmir into the wider framework of Iran-India and Iran-BRICS diplomacy.
