India should use its influence with Israel to bring peace in Gaza and this effort will increase India’s soft power, said Iran’s Consul General Davoud Rezaei Eskandari on Thursday.
The old international system that existed for 70 years after the end of the World Wars is ending and we are transitioning to a new system, said Eskandari. “Iran and India should have a role in creating the new system. The old system was created after the end of the Second World War. The power distribution at that time does not translate in current times,” said Iskandari.
Fostering Historical And Contemporary Ties: Iran-India Relations
The Iranian Consul General was speaking at the ‘Jashn-e-Bahar’ celebration at the University of Mumbai to commemorate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and the 60th anniversary of the varsity’s Department of Persian. The event, organised by the Iran Culture House and the University of Mumbai, was attended by consular staff, academicians from the university, and students.
During the interactive session after the inauguration of the event, Eskandari, who was the chief guest at the function, said that Indian and Iranian relations started in ancient times and continued after Iran became a Muslim country.
Talking about the changing world order, he said that even in the old political order, India was the front-runner in the creation of the non-aligned movement, which was a grouping of developing countries that followed an independent foreign policy not dictated by the superpowers of the post-war era. “India, considering its political and economic power should have more say, more role in the international system,” he said, adding that there was scope for more cooperation between India and Iran.
“India is an emerging power and it is not possible to speak of emerging powers without mentioning India.”
Strengthening Iran-India Relations And Cultural Bonds
Answering a question from a member of the audience about the growing economic cooperation between India and Iran, Eskandari said that Iran was willing to increase its relations with this country. Giving the example of the Chabahar port, where India is building shipping facilities, the Iranian Consul General said that the governments of India and Iran are in the final step of signing a long-term agreement for the port. “The port will be a turning point for boosting Iran-India collaboration. The long-term contract will be signed soon,” he said, adding that there are direct flights now from Mumbai and Delhi to Iran and Indians can now travel to Iran without a visa.
Other speakers at the event reminded the audience about Persian’s links with Indian languages like Sanskrit, Urdu, Hindi, and Marathi. Mohammad Reza Fazel, Cultural Attaché and Director, Iran Culture House, said that a book that was brought from India in 550 CBE and translated into Persian hundreds of years ago is still very popular. The book is the ‘Panchatantra’. “India has given Persian the status of a classical language. We have to take advantage of this and Persian heritage in India should be kept alive by students,” said Fazel.
Persian Influence And Cultural Celebrations
Shaoor Azmi, an Urdu-Persian scholar, said that few Marathi speakers know that words like ‘karyavahi’ and ‘mahina’ have origins in Persian. “If Persian is called a ‘sweet’ language, Urdu, which has taken a lot from Persian, has become ‘sweeter’ because of its association with Persian,” said Azmi.
Later, students and cultural groups presented a show on Sufism, gazal, and Persian singing. Nowruz is celebrated on March 21 by many Central Asian cultures, Zoroastrians, Bahais, and other communities, to celebrate the coming of spring. Azmi explained why there is a festival to welcome spring. “There is winter, summer, and autumn, but there no are festivals to usher in these seasons. That is because people complain about summer, winter, and autumn, but nobody complains about spring,” said Azmi.
