President calls for stronger India ties

Visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here Saturday stressed the importance of bolstering relations with India in all fields.
Ahmadinejad, who is currently in Havana, Cuba, to attend the 14th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the second day of the summit.
“Iran sets no limitation for further expansion of ties with India. Officials of the two countries should strive to make use of all bilateral potentials to promote Tehran-New Delhi ties because cooperation between the two sides will be beneficial for their nations,” the Iranian president said.
He expressed Iran’s readiness to cooperate with India particularly in the fields of joint economic ventures in Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. “Tehran is ready to cement cooperation with New Delhi in various economic fields particularly in energy, transportation, trade and industrial areas,” Ahmadinejad said.
He added that implementation of a project to transfer Iran’s gas to Pakistan through India would promote peace and security in the region, saying, “We hope the agreement will be finalized at the earliest because we think regional states should promote peace.” Singh, for his part, said Indian people are deeply interested in Iranian culture and that India is determined to consolidate cultural, economic and political ties with Iran.
He assured Ahmadinejad that New Delhi will do its utmost to promote friendly ties with Tehran, adding that all political parties in India are eager to boost ties with Tehran.
The premier said his country was enthusiastically awaiting the upcoming visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to New Delhi.
He expressed regret over the misunderstanding caused about India’s stance on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, stressing India would never joint any efforts against Iran.
India has repeatedly stressed that Iran should enjoy all nuclear rights based on international commitments including the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), he stated.