Iranian FM, Indian PM call for implementation of ceasefire in Syria

The call came during a Friday meeting between Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The top Iranian diplomat arrived in New Delhi on Thursday on a two-day official visit to hold talks with the Indian premier on key regional and international developments.

Kofi Annan’s plan for Syria, effective from mid-April, calls for the establishment of a ceasefire between the government and the opposition, allowing humanitarian groups to access the population, releasing detainees and starting a political dialogue.

While the West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing protesters, Damascus blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest that has erupted in the country since last year, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

The Iranian foreign minister also extended Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s invitation to the Indian prime minister to attend the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran.

The 16th summit of the NAM member states will be held on August 26-31 in the Iranian capital.

Iran will assume the rotating presidency of the movement for three years during the Tehran summit.

NAM is comprised of some 120 member states and 17 observer countries.

Singh, for his part, highlighted the significance of the NAM summit in Tehran and called on the movement’s members to play an active role in regional and global issues.

The Indian premier said his country seeks to pursue efforts via the United Nations Security Council to help Syria resolve the ongoing crisis in the country.

The Iranian minister and the Indian premier also discussed ways to expand economic and trade ties regarding great potentials of Tehran and New Delhi.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Salehi said the value of trade between Iran and India currently stands at 16 billion dollars and emphasized that both sides enjoy great capacities to raise the level of cooperation.

He added that India is interested in participating in different projects in Iran and noted that the Indian officials have pledged to provide more facilities to increase trade exchanges.

“We are optimistic about the future of relations between the two countries,” the Iranian minister pointed out.

Salehi is scheduled to pay a visit to Pakistan on Friday evening to hold talks with President Asif Ali Zardari and to officially invite him to attend the NAM summit in Tehran.

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