Indian President Calls for Development of Ties with Iran

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in a meeting with Iran’s new Ambassador to New Delhi Gholamreza Ansari underlined his country’s enthusiasm for the further expansion of relations with Tehran, especially in political fields,According to FNA.

“The political relations between Iran and India are highly extensive and such ties and cooperation should further expand,” Mukherjee said in the meeting on Tuesday, during which Ansari submitted his credentials to the Indian president.

He also reiterated the deep and special relations between the two countries, and said, “Iran and India enjoy highly profound and age-old relations and there are abundant potentials for cooperation between two countries.”

The Iranian envoy, for his part, described economic relations as one of the main potentials for the two countries’ cooperation, and said there are good capacities for mutual cooperation in the energy sector.

Iran and India which have deep historical and cultural relations are now seeking to further expand political and economic ties.

India, the world’s fourth-largest petroleum consumer, is Iran’s second largest oil customer after China and purchases around $12 billion worth of Iranian crude every year, about 12 percent of its consumption.

H.SH