Iranian President Khatami was given pride of place as India’s guest of honor on its Republic Day celebrations. It is the first time an Iranian head of government has been invited to such a ceremony, which is the greatest honor India can bestow upon a friendly nation, and thus puts the relations of India and Iran on dais.

Despite their age-long relations, President Khatami’s visit lays the first brick of the framework for the strategic structure that is being evolved into a tentative Iran-India entente. His visit sought to sure up support for his ‘gas strategy’ from a cautious India, increasingly skeptical of the security of a gas pipe proposed to pass through Pakistan. Also on agenda was the prospect of the joint development of new road and rail routes, creating the ‘North-South Corridor’, a trade route which would link India to Europe and Central Asia via the Iranian port of Chabahar. The visit’s key achievement was the signing of eight agreements, most significant of which were the New Delhi Declaration, its additional Roadmap to Strategic Cooperation and a memorandum of understanding on energy.