New Delhi: Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita attended a Chehelum (40th day) commemoration ceremony in Delhi organised in memory of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the late Supreme Leader of Iran, as India signalled continuity in its ties with Tehran amid escalating tensions in West Asia.
The ceremony, held on Sunday night at the Iran Culture House in the national capital, marked 40 days since Khamenei was killed in a joint strike by the United States and Israel, an event that triggered the ongoing war between Iran on one side and the US and Israel on the other. Senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs are understood to have been present, reflecting the event’s diplomatic significance.
Former Cabinet minister and BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and former Cabinet minister and senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid also attended the gathering. Margherita did not speak at the event but later addressed reporters, saying, “Minister of State Shri Pabitra Margherita offered solemn respects on behalf of the Government of India at the 40th day (Chehelum) mourning ceremony organised by the Embassy of Iran in New Delhi. India–Iran relations are anchored in deep-rooted civilizational, cultural and people-to-people ties,” the official MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote on social media.
The programme began at about 7 pm and went on until 11 pm, starting with addresses by Naqvi, Khurshid and Mohammad Fathali, the Iranian ambassador to India, followed by religious ceremonies. Representatives of Jamat e Islami as well as of the Sikh and Jain communities are understood to have been present, underscoring the multi faith nature of the gathering.
Khurshid recalled the strong civilisational links between India and Iran, highlighting the long standing historical and cultural bonds between the two nations. Naqvi, who as a former chairman of the Indo Iran Parliamentary Friendship Group had long been involved in bilateral ties, reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s line that “expansionist obsession is the enemy of a developmental mindset.” He stressed that India favours resolving the West Asia crisis through prudence, dialogue and coordination, warning that “temporary conflicts between nations inflict permanent wounds to humanity,” and citing Hiroshima and Nagasaki as stark examples.
In the immediate aftermath of Khamenei’s killing, when Modi did not issue any public social media condolence, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri later visited the Iranian embassy in Delhi to express India’s condolences. The Iranian embassy, in a post on X late Sunday night, said the Chehelum ceremony “was attended by senior officials of the Government of India, diplomats, political figures, leaders of various religions, Muslim Ulama, as well as thousands of people from across India,” framing the event as both a religious and diplomatic gesture of solidarity.