Iranian President meets Indian counterpart

The Islamic Republic of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday evening met his Indian counterpart Mrs Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhawan (Presidential Palace) in New Delhi.

The two presidents discussed the latest developments in bilateral relations and regional and international issues.

In the first visit by Iranian Head of State to India in five years, Ahmadinejad while referring to the understanding between the governments and the people of India and Iran, expressed the hope that the centuries old relations between the two nations would be further strengthen in future.

Notwithstanding the brief trip, the Indian government is keen to make a success of the visit New Delhi sent a powerful message across when it snubbed Washington, despite their growing strategic ties, recently for offering gratuitous advice on its Iran relations, saying that it was for the IAEA to determine the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme and not for any individual country, however powerful it might be.

The visiting president is accompanied by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister for Commerce Massoud Mir Kazemi, Chairman of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei and senior adviser to the president Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi.