Dr Jaishankar calls for early review of trade in good accord with ASEAN
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Friday strongly pitched for an early completion of review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).
The Government of India representatives have been allowed to meet the 17 Indian crew members of the Israel-linked vessel that was seized by Iranian authorities in the Gulf of Hormuz last week, Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a press note on Monday.
According to the note, ”Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian and his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar had a telephonic conversation during which the latter raised the issue of the 17 Indian crew members of the seized ship.
“We are actively monitoring the situation concerning the seized ship, and arrangements will soon be made for representatives of the Indian government to meet with the crew members of the vessel in question,” Amirabdollahian assured Dr Jaishankar.
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A special forces unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had earlier seized a merchant vessel about 80 km off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The seized ship was linked to Israel and there were 25 people onboard, including the 17 Indians.
During their phone call, Amirabdollahian also conveyed details of Iran’s “legitimate defense and punitive measures” against the Israeli regime to his Indian counterpart during the telephone conversation.
Earlier on Saturday, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel and fired some 350 missiles and drones.
Most of the missiles and drones were intercepted by Israel and its allies. However, slight damage was reported at an Israeli military base and a young girl sustained injuries after being hit by the shrapnel of an intercepted missile.
Israel’s five-member war Cabinet has favoured strong retaliation but failed to reach consensus on the timing and scale of the response even as world leaders expressed concern and called on both countries to exercise restraint.
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