Tehran/Doha, Sep 13: Iran and Oman have agreed on the details of new entry and exit routes for the Strait of Hormuz and will brief Gulf countries on the outcome of their consultations at a regional meeting in Muscat on Monday, Iranian officials said.

Citing a source close to Iran’s negotiating team, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said that the understanding was reached after “intensive technical and diplomatic talks between Iran and Oman, which culminated in a final agreement in late August.”

Under the understanding, the Gulf’s entry route “lies entirely within Iran’s territorial waters,” and a portion of the exit route also falls “within Iranian territorial waters,” the source said.

The source stressed that the route would operate under Iranian arrangements and the waterway’s southern route will be closed once the new system becomes operational, noting that the United States had insisted that the southern route must be opened.

“The understanding in no way means that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened,” the source said, adding that Iran has seven conditions for reopening the waterway and has conveyed them to the United States.

The source underlined that the waterway will remain closed unless those conditions are implemented, with reopening depending entirely on the US behavior, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced on Friday that Gulf littoral states’ foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Oman on Monday to exchange views on regional issues, including the Iran-Oman talks on designating safe routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking to media on Saturday, Baghaei said the gathering would “hopefully” be attended by foreign ministers from Gulf states as well as Iran and Iraq.

“As part of the agenda, we are going to brief the delegations about the results of the Iran and Oman consultations regarding the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that the two countries had conducted the consultations as “the two coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Late last month, Iran and Oman said in a joint statement that they had exchanged views on a proposed phased framework that includes establishing a temporary joint shipping corridor in the strait.

Following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran restricted passage through the strategic waterway, while US forces imposed a naval blockade targeting vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports.

The Strait of Hormuz, linking the Gulf with the Arabian Sea, is one of the world’s most important routes for oil and gas shipments. Oman and Iran sit on opposite sides of the strait and have maintained consultations over maritime security and navigation in the strategic waterway.

New Delhi, Sep 13: Lok Sabha leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a breakfast meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in the national capital on Sunday.

Sharing pictures from the meeting on X, the Congress party wrote, “LoP Shri Rahul Gandhi, along with Congress General Secretary Smt. Priyanka Gandhi ji, met H.E. Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, for a breakfast meeting in New Delhi.”

Anwar Ibrahim is on an official visit to India to attend the two-day BRICS Summit being held in New Delhi.

During his visit, he attended the BRICS Summit’s session on ‘Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism’ in New Delhi on Saturday. He joined leaders of other BRICS member countries in a tree plantation drive in New Delhi. Anwar Ibrahim attended the gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening.

Anwar Ibrahim also held bilateral talks with PM Modi, Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

During the meeting, PM Modi and Anwar Ibrahim expressed their continued commitment to advancing the India-Malaysia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Anwar Ibrahim conveyed Malaysia’s concurrence to the establishment of the Consulate General of India in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, according to the statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

“Prime Minister Modi warmly welcomed Prime Minister Ibrahim to India and appreciated Malaysia’s participation in the BRICS Summit as a Partner Country. The leaders took stock of the outcomes of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Malaysia in February 2026 and reviewed the progress in bilateral cooperation across a range of areas, including trade and investment, defence and security, semiconductors, infrastructure, digital economy, energy, fintech, education, tourism and people-to-people ties,” the MEA mentioned in a statement.

Both leaders discussed key regional and global issues of mutual interest. PM Modi appreciated Malaysia’s continued support in strengthening India-ASEAN ties.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia on the sidelines of 18th BRICS Summit. Building on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Malaysia in February 2026, the leaders reviewed the progress in bilateral cooperation across a range of areas, including trade and investment, defence and security, semiconductors, infrastructure, digital economy, energy, fintech, education, tourism and people-to-people ties. The leaders exchanged views on key regional and global issues of mutual interest,” the MEA posted on X.

After concluding his engagements in New Delhi, Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to travel to Kerala to meet India’s Grand Mufti.

“My itinerary in India also includes a visit to Kerala to meet the Grand Mufti of India to exchange views on community development, education, and religious affairs. Following the Diplomatic Mission in India, I will then proceed to Male, Maldives, to undertake an official visit at the invitation of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu. May all matters be facilitated and this visit bring tangible benefits to the people and the nation,” Ibrahim posted on X.

New Delhi, Sep 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifting President Vladimir Putin with a Russian translation of the Thirukkural on Friday is another example of his efforts at putting forward India’s heritage and culture before the rest of the world.

“This is not the first time PM Modi has taken our culture global!” said ‘Modi Story’, an initiative to bring forward the Prime Minister’s work and thoughts through the eyes of those who have caught a glimpse into his life.

The social media post on Saturday was in reference to him presenting President Putin with a Russian translation of the composition which carries the eternal wisdom of the great Thiruvalluvar across languages and borders.

The Russian President is in India to participate in the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit, now underway in New Delhi.

The composition is a timeless work on ethics, politics, and love, among those by the celebrated figure in Tamil literature and philosophy, who is also referred as Valluvar.

“Back at the 2019 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, PM Modi spearheaded an initiative to translate 10 modern Indian works into Russian, Chinese, and English so regional literature could reach global audiences,” it added, quoting a statement from K. Sreenivasan, former Secretary of Sahitya Academy.

The 19th SCO Summit was then held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, focusing on regional security, economic cooperation, and multilateral diplomacy.

“He (PM Modi) has created space for Indian culture, Indian literature, Indian languages, (where) though we’re creating excellent literary works, we’re not able to showcase it before the world,” Sreenivasan said in a video attached with the social media post.

“Then, in 2020, we contacted the External Affairs Ministry and the Ministry of Culture and then made a list of 10 books to be translated in the three languages,” he added.

It was in 2020-2021 when the Summit was held under India’s chairmanship — it was the time of the pandemic and the meeting had to be held virtually — that the books were released, he also said.

Prime Minister Modi then announced that the country had achieved what he had set out to do.

“I want to say this to tell how he is concerned about Indian literature, Indian languages even in the international platform,” Sreenivasan stressed.

The social media post reminded that earlier, during President Putin’s India visit in December 2025, Prime Minister Modi had gifted him a Russian edition of the Bhagavad Gita.

“PM Modi’s cultural diplomacy is a masterclass in putting Indian heritage front and centre on the world stage!” it added.