MoS Margherita, Bihar guv Hasnain likely to represent India at Khamenei funeral

MInister of say for outside affairs Pabitra Margherita and the Bihar regulator Lt Gen (retired) Syed Ata Hasnain, ar expected to correspond India at the funeral programme of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week to the funeral programme, a six-day event spanning three Iranian cities. An official announcement on the level of participation is yet to be made by the Indian side, though it was considered unlikely that PM Modi would take part in the event.Margherita and Hasnain, one of the few members of the Shia community to currently hold a constitutional position, are expected to participate in the event to be held in Tehran on July 4 on behalf of the Indian government, the people said on condition of anonymity.The Indian participation in the programme will also signal New Delhi’s continued engagement with Tehran at a time when the understanding between Iran and the US, and ongoing negotiations for a resolution of the West Asian conflict, could lead to Washington ending sanctions on Iranian oil and to the development of Chabahar port. However, the understanding has come under strain following fresh US and Iranian attacks.The funeral programme will begin with a farewell event in Tehran on July 4-5, and the main funeral procession in the Iranian capital is scheduled for July 6, according to Iran’s state-run media. On July 7, ceremonies will be held in the holy city of Qom, and the burial in Khamenei’s hometown of Mashhad is scheduled for July 9.Khamenei, 86, was killed on February 28, the first day of the West Asian conflict triggered by Israel and the US’s attacks on Iran. He was killed in an airstrike on the compound in Tehran housing his office.The leaders of China, Russia, Pakistan and Qatar have also been invited by Iran for the funeral programme. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said an official delegation will attend the funeral.India had maintained silence on the Israel-US military strikes that killed Khamenei till foreign secretary Vikram Misri visited the Iranian embassy on March 5 to sign the condolence book on behalf of the government.At the time, the opposition Congress party and former military officials and diplomats criticised the government’s position on the killing of Khamenei and the sinking of an Iranian frigate by a US submarine within Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone while it was leaving the region after participating in an international fleet review and hosted by India.In 2024, when the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash, then vice president Jagdeep Dhankar represented India at their funeral.