Saturday, May 12, 2018

India-Iran Joint Stamp Issue

India and Iran jointly dedicated the second joint stamp issue between the two countries on 17th February 2018. The stamps in two designed were dedicated by the Prime Minister of India and the President of Iran at a bilateral event in New Delhi, during the latter's State visit to India. This joint issuance celebrates the maritime trade links between India and Iran, showing ports. The Indian port of Deendayal Kandla and Iranian Beheshti Chabahar port are depicted on the two stamps in identical designs.

I don't have details for the Iranian version other than pictures of the souvenir sheet, first day cover and a postcard. Information sheet for the Indian version lists Kamleshwar Singh as the stamp/FDC designer and Alka Sharma made the cancellation design. India Post issued two stamps and a miniature sheet along with first day covers. The Indian stamps were printed in 0.501 million quantity for each design and 0.1 million miniature sheets. The stamps were printed at Security Printing Press, Hyderabad.
Joint Stamp Issue between Iran and India (2018): Kandla & Chabahar Ports
The stamps show a graphical representation of the two ports with ships and port equipment on both sides. Deendayal Kandla is a major port located in the Indian state of Gujarat in operation since the 1930s. India and Iran have been working on developing several births in Chabahar port in Iran and the first  shipment of wheat was sent to Afghanistan from Kandla to Chabahar in late 2017. The Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar, located in the Sistan & Baluchestan province is geographically close to India and at a geo-strategic location in the Gulf of Oman. The two countries are working to further develop this as an important trade route to reach the Central Asian markets.

The souvenir sheets have numerous port cranes in the background, line drawings of maps of both the ports on top and two historical monuments in the bottom. The two columns shown are the Ashokan Pillar from Vaishali, India and a Griffin column from Persepolis, Iran.

India and Iran had issued their first joint stamp issue, fourteen year ago, back in August 2004. This first set of stamps jointly commemorated famous poets from both nations - Hafiz from Iran and Kabir from India. I imagine that the details for this joint issue was worked out after the state visit of then Iranian President in January 2003.