At the invitation of the Speaker of the Indian Lower House – which has 542 members – we set off for India today at the head of a 42-strong delegation from the parliament, the government, the army and the broadcaster. At half past nine in the morning, we flew from Tehran on a Shahin with a two-jet escort (due to the threat of war), one and a half hours late. The reason for the delay was a lack of coordination between the forces, the staff and the airport. It turned out the plane's captain was barred from leaving the country; what a mess!
At the invitation of the Speaker of the Indian Lower House of Parliament – which has five hundred and forty-two members – we departed for India today at the head of a forty-two-member delegation from Parliament, the Government, the Army and the BBC. We flew from Tehran at half past nine in the morning, an hour and a half late, in a Shahin with an escort of two Shikari jets (due to the threat of war). The reason for the delay was a lack of coordination between the forces, the staff and the airport. It turned out the plane's captain was under travel ban; what a mess!
We arrived in Delhi at one o'clock Tehran time and three o'clock Delhi time. Journalists, photographers and a crowd of Indians and Iranians welcomed us. The Speaker of Parliament, the Foreign Minister and a number of Indian dignitaries were present. A brief interview was held and photographs were taken. We were then transferred to “Hyderabad House” for our stay; it was built by a Maharaja during the British colonial era and is a very old building.
It has recently rained, and the weather is humid at 29 degrees Celsius. We laid a wreath of flowers on Gandhi's tomb. The tomb is in a lawned area, and world leaders each have a tree planted in their name, usually a mango tree. We then had a brief meeting and friendly, informal talks with the Speaker of Parliament. Some of the party were based here, and some at the hotel.
After resting and having dinner at the Iranian Cultural House, we appeared before a gathering of Iranian students and some Indians. Mr Dr [Hassan] Rouhani spoke, and I spoke briefly as well. There was a misunderstanding between the embassy and Mr Manouchehr Mottaki, one of our companions who had previously been a student in India, so we left late. Everyone's mouth was on fire from the excessive amount of chilli in the food. They said that of India's population of around seven hundred million, according to official statistics, 82 per cent are Hindu and 11 per cent are Muslim, although the Muslims believe their proportion is higher – 14 per cent. As Hindus do not eat meat, the slaughtered animals mainly come from the Muslim community. Our ambassador, Mr Asadi Lari, says that the majority of the people suffer from severe poverty and want.
The wage of an ordinary worker is twenty rupees, each rupee being equal to a tumán. It is not unlike Iran. The salary of a member of parliament is one thousand rupees and that of a minister two thousand five hundred rupees, with free housing and a car. The television broadcast our arrival ceremony and the interview. The main questions concerned the venue for the Non-Aligned Conference, which they would like to be held in India.
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