Thaindian News

New York, Sep 24 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accepted in principle Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s renewed invitation to visit Iran.

The invitation was accepted when the two leaders met here for the first time after a long time Friday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters.

The dates for the visit will be decided by the two sides after diplomatic consultations, he said. But as part of the bilateral agenda of visits, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar will be visiting Iran shortly.

If Manmohan Singh visits Iran, it will be the first prime ministerial visit after 10 years when Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a trip to Tehran in 2001. But there have been visits at other levels over the years between the two countries.

“The previously planned meeting basically focused on our bilateral relationship,” Mathai said when asked if the meeting with Ahmadinejad coupled with Indian support for Palestine would have an impact on New Delhi’s ties with Washington.

Though the two leaders did not discuss the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline - another issue of divergence with the US - “they discussed a whole series of projects between the two countries, including potential cooperation in the field of hydrocarbons”, he said.

They also decided to hold soon a meeting of the India-Iran Joint Economic Commission co-chaired by the foreign ministers of the two countries.

The two leaders reviewed situation in Afghanistan and discussed developments in West Asia and North Africa. They also agreed to review the Non-Aligned Movement, which will be chaired next by Tehran.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)