India important partner to address global challenges: Irans exiled prince Reza Pahlavi
Calling India a leading country in terms of technology and expertise, Iran's exiled crown prince said that he looked forward to closer engagement.
New Delhi: Amid a political crisis in Iran, country's exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi said that a democratic Iran would look forward to have closer ties with India and seek cooperative relations with it.
Pahlavi has emerged as a prominent figure in Iran's fragmented opposition and is being seen as the next leader of a possible new government in Iran, as weeks of widespread protests have posed a threat to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime.
Addressing a press conference, Pahlavi said, "A democratic Iran is committed to having the best possible relationship in the context of sovereignty and liberty with any country that adheres to the same values and can work with us and can partner with us in many different domains."
Pahlavi recalls Indira Gandhi's visit to Iran
He also underscored that Iran and India had good relations in modern history and recalled when former prime minister Indira Gandhi had visited Tehran. "I was very young at the time, so the relationship goes back a long time," he said.
Pahlavi further said that India and Iran are known for their rich culture and history, and the two countries can take pride in that and could also have a "good bond and cooperation" because of that. "I think we can, as nations, be very proud of our heritage, and this could be a natural path to a very good bond and cooperation."
'India important to deal with global challenges'
Stressing the need for deeper international collaboration to deal with global challenges, Pahlavi said that India would be important in addressing them. "We have so many challenges to face on our planet. We have issues of energy, and we have issues of population. We have issues of energy shortages. We have water crisis," he said.
Calling India a leading country in terms of technology and expertise, the exiled crown prince said that he looked forward to closer engagement between experts, entrepreneurs and business communities in both countries. "I'm looking forward to have our experts, our entrepreneurs, our business sector, and anybody else working very closely with our Indian counterpart," he said.
He also said that cooperation between India and Iran could extend to ne and renewable engery and other emerging sectors. "Hopefully once we are freed, we can start an entirely new chapter," he said.