India, Iran discuss bilateral issues, Af-Pak situation

Ammar Zaidi
Tehran, May 18 (PTI) In the rapidly changing world
structure, Iran and India must stay together and should not
neglect the present opportunities to replace the "dying" big
powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told visiting External
Affairs Minister S M Krishna Tuesday.
Krishna, who was here representing India at the
meeting of G-15 developing nations, met Ahmadinejad here and
the two leaders discussed with the Iranian President
highlighting the need for the two nations to work together on
regional issues.
"The two leaders talked about situation in the
region," an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said and
described the near 30-minute meeting as "warm and cordial
interaction".
"It (Af-Pak situation) was briefly mentioned... The
two leaders touched upon the situation in the region," he
said.
The Iranian President wanted the two nations to be in
touch on regional issues, the spokesperson said.
"Referring to regional situation, the President
underlined the desirability (and) need for India and Iran to
be in touch (and) to work together," he said.
Ahmadinejad told Krishna that Iran and India should
stay together for three reasons namely because of their
cultural characteristics and the common historical records,
the present situation in the region as well as the
contemporary world conditions which call for close cooperation
between the two countries, official IRNA agency said.
"He (Ahmadinejad) also underlined the rapidly changing
world structure and said Iran and India should not neglect the
present opportunities to replace the dying big powers," it
said. The Iranian President was apparently referring to the US
and other western countries.
The fiery Iranian leader believed closer ties between
Iran and India will benefit other countries as well because
Tehran and New Delhi have always sought peace and security for
both the region and the world, the agency said.
The Indian spokesman said: "India has always played an
important role in global affairs including NAM and G-15
organisations."
Krishna also conveyed the greetings of Indian
President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to
the President, and to the leadership and people of Iran.
"External Affairs Minister congratulated the President
and the Iranian Government for the very successful hosting and
conduct of the G-15 Summit and excellent arrangements made,"
the spokesperson said.
Recalling India's civilisational links with Iran,
Krishna noted that the two nations were neighbours (before
India's partition) and have always been good friends. (MORE)
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