Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend the 16th NAM summit on a visit that will also see him holding bilateral talks with the top Iranian leadership and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Dr. Singh was received by Iran’s Minister of Finance, Shamseddin Hosseini. The visit is the first in a decade to Iran by an Indian Prime Minister after Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited the country in 2001.
On the sidelines of the summit of 120 non-aligned nations, Dr. Singh will also hold meetings with the Iranian leadership, including Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and will review bilateral relations.
Dr. Singh’s bilateral meetings with Mr. Khamenei and Mr. Ahmadinejad assume significance, as they will take place at a time when the U.S. is pushing India to reduce engagement with Iran and implement sanctions imposed by some countries over its controversial nuclear programme.
