New Delhi
16 March 2007
New Delhi will get another opportunity to exchange views with
Tehran on matters of mutual interest when it hosts former Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami next week. Mr Khatami, who heads the non-governmental International Centre
for Dialogue Among Civilisations, will address a seminar and is likely to meet with
certain Indian leaders during his March 22 to 24 visit.
Sources said that New Delhi would want to hear out Khatami, who recently spoke out
against Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's handling of the nuclear crisis. "We can
prevent a crisis with discretion and courage or to turn it to a form that hurts us less. In
nuclear and regional issues, especially Iraq, we should act with prudence and not
provoke," he said.
Mr Khatami served as Iran's president from 1997 to 2005. He is seen as a moderate
cleric and reformist. Unlike him, Mr Ahmadinejad is the first non-cleric president of Iran
since 1981.
Mr Khatami's visit will come at a time when the Russian company Atomstroyexport has
said that nuclear fuel will not be supplied to Bushehr nuclear power plant anytime soon
as Iran has not agreed to resume the project's financing. Sources said that the plant is
therefore not expected to attain criticality as per the timetable that was drawn up. The
West suspects Iran could use the project to develop nuclear weapons.
Minister of State of External Affairs E Ahamed recently was in Tehran for the meeting of
Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation. His visit was the second high-
level political contact between India and Iran within a month. External Affairs Minister
Pranab Mukherjee was in Tehran for two days from February 6. Iranian Minister of
Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki paid an official visit to India last year.
Earlier this week India and Israel concluded the sixth meeting of India-Israel joint
working group on counter-terrorism and the third round of dialogue on disarmament and
non-proliferation in New Delhi. The two sides discussed terrorist threats in the regional
and global contexts exchanged views on different issues related to disarmament and
non-proliferation.
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