By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Iranian foreign ministry has removed from an official readout some portions relating to Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s conversation with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on the issue of controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad.
The visiting Iranian foreign minister and the NSA held talks on Wednesday covering a wide range of issues including trade, connectivity, counter-terror cooperation and the situation in Afghanistan.
The Iranian readout on Abdollahian’s talks with Doval said the foreign minister raised the issue of the controversy triggered by the comments on Prophet Mohammad and that he was satisfied by the NSA’s response.
Asked at a media briefing about the readout including comments attributed to Doval that wrongdoers will be dealt with in a way that is a lesson for others, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said he would not like to comment on the conversation between Doval and Abdollahian.
At the same time, he said: “My understanding is that what you are referring to in a readout has been pulled down. Even if it is I do not want to get into what was said or not.” The revised readout on the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website only carries a brief paragraph on the issue as against long references to it in the previous statement.
It said the NSA reiterated the respect of the Indian government and officials for the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and that the matter will be “treated as a lesson for others.” The earlier statement had elaborate details on the issue.
“Pleased to meet PM Modi, FM Jaishankar & other Indian officials to advance our bilateral strategic dialogue. Tehran & New Delhi agree on the need to respect divine religions & Islamic sanctities & to avoid divisive statements,” Abdollahian tweeted on Wednesday.
Asked whether the Iranian foreign minister raised the issue of controversial remarks on the Prophet in his talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Bagchi suggested that it was not brought up. “My understanding was that this issue was not raised during that conversation,” he said.
On the strong reaction to the comments by the Arab world, Bagchi said the government has made it clear that the remarks do not reflect the views of the government. “We have made it pretty clear that tweets and comments do not reflect views of government,” Bagchi said at a media briefing.
“This has been conveyed to our interlocutors as also the fact that action has been taken by the concerned quarters against those who made the comments and tweets. I really do not think I have anything additional to say on this,” he said.
The BJP on Sunday suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and the party’s Delhi unit media head Naveen Jindal for allegedly making derogatory comments.
Abdollahian’s visit to India came days after Iran joined Kuwait and Qatar in summoning the Indian ambassadors over the remarks by Sharma and Jindal.
Since then, several countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, Bahrain, Maldives, Malaysia, Oman, Iraq and Libya denounced the comments.
Asked about reports that India has asked its ambassadors to reach out to authorities in their respective countries of postings to apprise them on the issue, Bagchi said the envoys regularly brief their interlocutors on issues and concerns of the day. “They are also in regular touch with the headquarters,” he said.
Asked whether Jaishankar and Abdollahian discussed the issue of crude oil, Bagchi did not give a direct reply. He, however, referred to Jaishankar’s public remarks earlier where he highlighted the absence of oil from Iran and Venezuela and said it has made it more difficult for India to meet its energy security needs.
The crisis in Ukraine and the situation in Afghanistan were among the key issues that figured in the talks Abdollahian had with Jaishankar.
