Ahmadinejad's visit to deepen Iran-India energy ties

23 April 2008

Mumbai: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will make his first official visit to India next week even as India firmly told the US that it does not want "any guidance" on its conduct of bilateral relations with Iran.

Ahmadinejad will spend a few hours in India on April 29 in a stop-over after a visit to Sri Lanka, in a sign of the two countries' resolve to deepen energy ties despite US opposition.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh, also told Washington that both New Delhi and Tehran are "perfectly capable" of "managing all aspects of their relationship".

Manmohan's comments came after US once again asked New Delhi to talk tough with Tehran about its controversial nuclear programme during Ahmadinejad's visit here.

Energy issues will top the agenda during the visit as energy-hungry India looks to Iran as a long-term energy partner.

New Delhi is also hoping to kick-start stalled negotiations over the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project to transport natural gas to India from Iran via Pakistan.