Iranian president Hassan Rouhani will arrive here on Thursday for a three-day visit during which he will discuss the "latest regional and global developments" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders, an Iranian news agency said today. "Iranian President Hassan Rouahni will travel to India on February 15," Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) said. Apart from holding extensive talks with Modi and other Indian leaders on key bilateral and regional issues, the Iranian leader is also scheduled to deliver a special address at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on Saturday. This will be the first visit by Rouhani, who is the seventh President of Iran, after taking charge in August 2013. During the meetings, Rouhani and Indian leaders will discuss, "the latest regional and global developments and the finalisation and exploitation of Chabahar port as soon as possible that can be very effective for bilateral trade in the region and mutual access of Afghanistan to regional and international markets", according to the media report. During Modi's bilateral visit to Iran in 2016, nearly a dozen pacts were signed between the two countries. The Trilateral Transit Agreement (Chabahar Agreement) was also signed by the three transport ministers of India, Iran and Afghanistan in the presence of Modi, Rouhani and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The contract entails capital investment of USD 85 million by India for equipping the Chabahar port in southeastern Iran. The strategically important port will open up the transit route for India to Iran and Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan. India and Iran have robust economic and commercial ties covering many sectors though it has traditionally been dominated by Indian import of Iranian crude oil and the country continued to engage with Iran at the time of sanctions. According to the external affairs ministry, India-Iran bilateral trade during the fiscal year 2016-17 was USD 12.89 billion. India imported USD 10.5 billion worth of goods mainly crude oil and exported commodities worth USD 2.4 billion.
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