Iranian president visits New Delhi for talks on gas pipeline agreement

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A gas pipeline that would link Iran and India topped the agenda Tuesday as the Islamic republic's president made his first visit to New Delhi, despite strong US objections to the project. The trip came as India and the United States are struggling to finalize a landmark nuclear energy deal. But New Delhi has made it clear that it will look to any source to feed its energy hungry economy, and India saw the brief visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a chance to kick-start the long-stalled pipeline project. Ahmadinejad arrived in the evening and met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil during his five hours in New Delhi, India's foreign ministry said. His visit was the first by an Iranian leader in five years.