The seminar opened a day after the anniversary of India’s Republic Day which commemorates the day when the Constitution of India came into force in 1950, replacing the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of the country.
The Indian ambassador to Iran, Shri D.P. Srivastava, and a number of Iranian scholars and Indologists, including Bahaeddin Khorramshahi, Fathollah Mojtabaei, and Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, attended the event on Sunday and delivered speeches.
In his speech, the Indian ambassador commented on cultural and literary affinities between India and Iran, saying that efforts should be made to strengthen them.
He also announced that the Indian Embassy has received a permit from the Iranian government to establish a cultural center, which will be inaugurated during the planned visit of Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid.
Sanctions have strengthened Iran-India ties
Haddad-Adel, who is the president of Iran’s Academy of Persian Language and Literature and a sitting MP, delivered a speech at the seminar, in which he said that Indology, Iranology, and Pakistanology are closely related.
“Political relations between Tehran and New Delhi are very good and economic relations between the two countries are developing more than at any other time which will help provide a better future for Indology in Iran,” he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Haddad-Adel commented on the sanctions imposed on Iran by certain Western countries, particularly the United States, saying that the sanctions have led to the expansion of ties between Tehran and New Delhi.
Independent India has resisted foreign pressure to reduce cooperation with Iran, the scholar-turned politician added.
EP/PA
MNA
END
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