SME Times News Bureau | 30 Aug, 2012
During his talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Manmohan Singh, who is in Tehran for the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, referred to trade imbalance and spoke of the need for Iran to import more, and particularly "resume imports of Indian wheat," an Indian government source said.
During his talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Manmohan Singh,
who is here for the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, referred to trade imbalance
and spoke of the need for Iran to import more, and particularly "resume
imports of Indian wheat," an Indian government source said.
At $15 billion, two-way trade between the two countries is heavily tilted in
favour of Iran, which exports goods, mainly oil, worth $12.5 billion and
imports goods worth only $2.5 billion.
During their hour-long talks, the two leaders reviewed their bilateral ties and
emphasised on increasing their economic and trade relations.
They also welcomed the decision to hold the next meeting of the India-Iran
Joint Commission at the foreign ministers' level in November in Tehran, the
sources said.
On the question of India's nuclear programme, Manmohan Singh expressed hope
that Iran would work within the parameters of the P5+1 dialogue and "hoped
the recent negotiations would yield positive results in the interest of peace
and security in the region", the source said.
The two leaders also discussed the recent developments in the region and
beyond, with particular emphasis on the situation in Afghanistan, Syria and
Middle East.
Much the same views were expressed during Manmohan Singh's 40-minute meeting
with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with both leaders underlining the close, vibrant
and cultural links between the two countries.