Regardless of sturdy ties, Khamenei’s previous criticisms embrace India’s dealing with of Muslim points and the Kashmir area.
India has hit out at feedback from Iran’s supreme chief concerning the therapy of its Muslim minority.
India’s Ministry of Exterior Affairs stated in a press release on Monday that remarks made by Ali Khamenei in a publish on X have been “misinformed and unacceptable”. Whereas India and Iran typically get pleasure from shut relations, the method of India’s Hindu nationalist authorities to minorities has led to disagreements prior to now.
“Nations commenting on minorities are suggested to take a look at their very own file earlier than making any observations about others,” the assertion from New Delhi learn.
The curt missive adopted a social media publish from Khamenei on Monday that stated, “We can’t take into account ourselves to be Muslims if we’re oblivious to the struggling {that a} Muslim is enduring in Myanmar, Gaza, India, or every other place.”
The enemies of Islam have at all times tried to make us detached with regard to our shared identification as an Islamic Ummah. We can’t take into account ourselves to be Muslims if we’re oblivious to the struggling {that a} Muslim is enduring in #Myanmar, #Gaza, #India, or every other place.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) September 16, 2024
India and Iran are likely to share an excellent relationship, illustrated by sturdy financial ties. In Might, they signed a 10-year contract to develop and function the Iranian port of Chabahar, on Iran’s southeastern coast.
India is growing the port as a gateway to exports to Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, permitting it to bypass the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in rival Pakistan.
However Khamenei has been crucial prior to now over points involving Muslims in India and the troubled Muslim-majority area of Kashmir.
Human rights teams have alleged that the mistreatment of Muslims has elevated below Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took over as prime minister in 2014.
Since then, the nation has seen a rising variety of assaults in opposition to Muslims and their livelihoods. Reviews of hate speech have additionally grown.
Instances of mob lynching below the pretext of defending cows, thought-about holy by some Hindus, have elevated throughout Modi’s time in energy, and houses and properties have been demolished.
In March, the Indian authorities introduced guidelines to implement the Citizenship Modification Act – a controversial regulation which opens the way in which to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from neighbouring nations.
It declared that Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from primarily Muslim Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan earlier than December 31, 2014, have been eligible for citizenship.
The regulation was declared “anti-Muslim” by a number of rights teams for preserving the group out of its ambit, elevating questions over the secular character of the world’s largest democracy.
In the meantime, critics additionally accuse Iran of discrimination in opposition to minorities.
Final month, a UN report stated ethnic and spiritual minorities, specifically Kurd and Baluch minorities, have been disproportionally affected by Tehran’s crackdown since mass protests in 2022.