India is all set to hold Foreign Ministry secretary-level talks with Iran for the first time since the June 13-24, 2025 Iran-Israel War. According to sources close to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, discussions would focus mainly on Chabahar Port. On the other hand, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman signed a bilateral investment agreement with her Israeli counterpart Bezalel Yoel Smotrich in New Delhi on September 8, 2025. With this, the Narendra Modi Administration has hinted that it would maintain the policy of a balanced diplomacy with the two West Asian nations. The ministry has expressed hope that the new agreement would make it easier for private companies to invest in each other’s countries.

Smotrich told ANI: “The bilateral investment agreement that I signed today with the Indian Minister of Finance gives a strong tailwind for private companies to come and invest in each other’s economies… Indian companies can feel completely secure investing in Israel and Israeli companies can feel secure investing in India.” He stressed: “Israel and India have a lot in common, both in the past and in the present… Both our nations have to contend with lethal attacks by Islamic terrorism. The joint economic potential of Israel and India is tremendous. It sits on these very same values of democracy, freedom of religion and human dignity, and democracy. Both of our governments highly encourage these investments and create an ecosystem that gives security and insurance for these investments years ahead.“

The visiting Israeli minister claimed that New Delhi and Tel Aviv were holding talks on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), stating: “We just spoke about this now with Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. Our joint teams are working on forming the exact formula for this to happen. I am sure that we will together find the relative advantages of each side that will allow each side to get what it wants from this agreement.” He told the press: “I believe that in the coming months, we will complete the process… The volume of trade (between the two countries) has doubled in recent years. We can multiply it by three or four times. No reason that it shouldn’t happen.“

Just two and a half months ago, Israel’s historic Operation Rising Lion (June 13, 2025) and the US’ Operation Midnight Hammer (June 22, 2025) targeted three Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. However, there is doubt about the extent to which those nuclear facilities were damaged by the surprise attack. Geopolitical experts believe that US President Donald John Trump has failed to prevent Iran’s nuclear programme, in spite of making a serious attempt to build international pressure against Tehran by using military force.

Meanwhile, India is trying hard to counter the US’ move to impose 50% tariffs on Indian goods diplomatically. Hence, the Modi Administration has decided to bolster ties with both Iran and Israel, simultaneously. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, a telephonic conversation was held between the National Security Advisers of India and Iran on September 6, 2025. The ministry has mentioned in a statement that the Indian diplomats would visit Tehran soon.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das