Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to attend interaction with Iranian president in New Delhi

Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has flown to New Delhi on Friday to attend an interaction with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is visiting India for the BRICS Summit.

Mohammad Fathali, Iran’s ambassador to India, invited Mirwaiz to the national capital, and he left for Delhi, a statement issued by Mirwaiz’s office said.

The statement said the interaction, scheduled for later Friday, will bring together religious leaders, intellectuals and other dignitaries and is hosted by Fathali. It will be followed by a dinner reception.

Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday for the BRICS summit, scheduled for Sept. 12-13. During his visit, he is also likely to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

New Delhi and Tehran cooperate through multilateral organisations like the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and India and Iran have maintained long-standing diplomatic ties. On the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Bishkek last month, Modi and Pezeshkian met and talked about bilateral relations and developments in West Asia.

Fathali is head of Iran’s embassy in New Delhi, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said, according to the protocol division.