Modi Meets Pezeshkian in Bishkek as India Signals Independent Iran Outreach

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on August 31, on the sidelines of the 26th SCO Summit. It was the first meeting between the two leaders since the outbreak of the US-Israel conflict with Iran on February 28, and their second encounter after talks in Kazan, Russia, during the BRICS Summit in October 2024.

The meeting took place against a backdrop of escalating American pressure. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned on August 24 that countries trading with Iran would face secondary sanctions on their exports to the United States. Earlier, through the declaration of "Operation Economic Outcast", President Trump had signalled that nations engaging in economic activity with Iran would immediately attract a 25% tariff on all exports shipped to the US.

Despite those warnings, Modi went ahead with the meeting. In a post on X, he said he had reiterated India's commitment to strengthening its long-standing friendship with Iran across diverse sectors, expressed a desire to expand and diversify the trade basket, and noted that the two leaders discussed the prevailing situation in the region. India, he added, will continue to support all efforts at ensuring peace.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded by saying the President has been clear that no country should help Iran evade sanctions, and that those who do would face sanctions themselves. He also noted that many countries develop their own foreign policy and talk to the Iranian regime, and that the US too has met with elements of it.

The engagement is expected to carry forward when Pezeshkian visits India for the BRICS Summit on September 12-13. New Delhi's willingness to press ahead with the relationship suggests that direct US threats have had limited impact on its outreach to Tehran.

Modi's statement, however, left several issues unaddressed. It made no mention of how the conflict began, who is responsible, or how it is unfolding. There was no reference to Iran's stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz and its impact on global energy security, particularly for countries like India that depend heavily on the region. Nor did it mention Indian seafarers killed in attacks on ships transiting Hormuz, or Indian nationals killed in Gulf states, including the UAE. India has condemned those attacks.

The relationship has been shaped over the years by US sanctions. Under the National Defense Authorization Act 2012, the Obama administration pressed major buyers of Iranian oil, including China, Japan and India, to scale back imports. India mounted a diplomatic push, arguing that a complete halt would endanger energy security and cause price shocks, and secured a waiver after reducing Iran's share of its oil import basket from 12% to 9%.

When the Trump administration reimposed sanctions in 2018-19 under its "maximum pressure" policy, Iran was India's third-largest crude supplier, accounting for roughly 10-12% of imports. After temporary Significant Reduction Exceptions expired in May 2019, India had to bring Iranian crude imports to zero to avoid secondary sanctions.

A special carve-out had allowed Indian entities to develop and operate the Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar, seen as a trade and supply corridor for Afghanistan that bypassed Pakistan. That waiver expired on April 26 this year with the return of the maximum pressure policy, reflecting changed US priorities after the Taliban takeover in Kabul in 2021. India has temporarily withdrawn from Chabahar to avoid sanctions, but views the port as its strategic gateway to Central Asia and Eurasia.

The past six months of conflict have reoriented West Asian geopolitics. Rather than isolating Tehran, the conflict has shown that no durable security framework in the region can be built without Iranian participation. Iran has called for a new regional security paradigm managed by regional players rather than foreign powers.

West Asia remains India's primary energy anchor and a vital market for non-oil exports, remittances and capital. The region has traditionally supplied 40-45% of India's crude oil needs, 50-60% of LNG imports and 80-90% of imported cooking gas. The GCC is India's largest regional trading partner bloc, with annual trade exceeding USD 175-180 billion, while nearly 9 million Indian expatriates in the Gulf remit over USD 40 billion, or 35-40% of global inward remittances.

Modi's remarks after the meeting reflect a calibrated approach, signalling that New Delhi will maintain an independent line of communication with Tehran based on its national interest despite sanctions, regional escalation and shipping disruptions.