Tehran (Iran): Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian departed Tehran for New Delhi on Friday to attend the BRICS Summit. He is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day.

Speaking ahead of his departure, Pezeshkian said the BRICS grouping aims to counter unilateralism and called for new approaches to address economic and global challenges.

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"The goal of BRICS is to confront unilateralism, and the slogan of the current summit is also within this framework, and we hope to get closer to this goal day by day. Of course, we know that economic issues are complex and we need new approaches to reduce totalitarianism and unilateralism in the world," he said.

According to Iranian news agency ISNA, Pezeshkian said the summit would focus on economic, financial, industrial and trade issues.

"Independence, solidarity, sustainability, resistance, and innovation are the slogans of the summit, and economic, financial, industrial, and trade issues will be discussed at this summit," he said.

Iran backs reducing dependence on dollar

Pezeshkian also highlighted BRICS' financial mechanisms and said they could help member countries conduct transactions with less dependence on the US dollar.

"A special bank has been formed within the BRICS framework, and we are going to see investment from countries so that interactions between countries and members can be carried out without dependence on the dollar, thus reducing America's totalitarianism with the dollar," he said.
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Pezeshkian to hold bilateral meeting with PM Modi

The Iranian President is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Modi later on Friday. The two leaders had earlier met on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Bishkek.

Pezeshkian said Iran and India share a long-standing relationship and have scope to expand areas of cooperation.

"Our presence at this summit is a good opportunity to meet and discuss with various officials, including those from China, Russia, Brazil, India, and other countries," he said.
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Modi reiterates India's support for regional peace

During their earlier meeting in Bishkek, Prime Minister Modi reiterated India's support for all efforts aimed at achieving long-standing peace and stability in the region.

Modi also reaffirmed India's readiness to cooperate closely with Iran in multilateral organisations, including BRICS and the SCO.

The Prime Minister expressed India's resolve to "expand and diversify" bilateral trade channels with Iran, underlining New Delhi's efforts to deepen the historic ties between the two countries across multiple areas.

(With ANI inputs)