India, Iran discuss cooperation over Afghanistan

October 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna on Thursday said that India is interested in co-operation with Iran in the oil and gas sector issues.

September 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - China is interested in the proposed IPI pipeline, Iranian ambassador Seyed Mehdi Nabizedeh told journalists in Delhi. However he remained reticent on whether talks with China on the pipeline are going on.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor Monday embarked on a five-day visit to the US, where he will hold discussions about the Af-Pak policy and regional security situation. Underscoring India's role in the strife-torn Afghanistan-Pakistan region, Kapoor will hold parleys on the issue with senior US military and defence officials.

July 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With India-US bilateral relations growing strategically in the light of the civil nuclear deal, Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor will visit the US and hold discussions about the Af-Pak policy and regional security situation. Underscoring India's role in the strife-torn Afghanistan-Pakistan region, Kapoor will hold parleys on the issue with senior US military and defence officials.

July 14th, 2009 PARIS - India and France on Tuesday reiterated their commitment to strengthen cooperation on countering the menace of terrorism. A statement released after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's working lunch with French President Nicholas Sarkozy said that there was a "strong convergence of interest on the threats posed by terrorism and measures to counter it." Both leaders also expressed their satisfaction over the implementation and cooperation between the two countries in the fields of civil nuclear energy,space and defence.

March 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry has said the United States may seek cooperation from India, China, and Iran to stabilize Afghanistan. "We also need to reach out to Afghanistan's other neighbours, including India, China, and Iran," the Dawn quoted Kerry, as saying at the confirmation hearing for the new US ambassador to Afghanistan.

March 27th, 2009 MOSCOW - India will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference on Afghanistan in Moscow on Friday. The conference is being held ahead of the March 31 meeting on Afghanistan in The Hague, under the initiative of the United States.

March 27th, 2009 MOSCOW - Pakistan is seeking full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional security group, the country's foreign minister told an international conference in Moscow Friday. 'I hope that one day we will be invited to join this organisation,' Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.

March 27th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Diplomats from the NATO and Iran held their first talks in 30 years here, focusing on possible cooperation on Afghanistan, an official said here. An Iranian diplomat met NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Martin Erdmann, the alliance's spokesman James Appathurai told reporters.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US military officials are exploring alternative supply routes for NATO and Afghan troops in Afghanistan that include Iran, the New York Times reported Thursday. The newspaper also reported that the question of the US base in Kyrgyzstan at the Manas base could be revived in the coming days when US negotiators travel there.

March 11th, 2009 TEHRAN - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Tehran Tuesday to attend the 10th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and discuss plans for a gas pipeline linking the two countries with India. Zardari and his Iranian and Afghan counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamid Karzai are scheduled to have a trilateral meeting prior to the summit Wednesday on security in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

March 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will go ahead with the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project even without India's participation, President Asif Ali Zardari said Monday, adding he will discuss the issue during his visit to Tehran beginning Tuesday. Zardari leaves for Tehran to represent Pakistan at the summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation being held in Iranian capital Wednesday, Geo TV reports.

March 10th, 2009 NEW YORK - The United Nations envoy for Afghanistan was in Tehran Monday to discuss economic cooperation among Central Asian nations and between Iran and Afghanistan, the UN said. Kai Eide, the top UN representative in Afghanistan, addressed a high-level meeting in Tehran of the 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which is an inter-governmental group promoting mutual economic, technical and cultural support in Central Asia.

January 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India is ready to discuss any issue and share its views on regional stability with US special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke when he comes to the region next week, officials said. 'We are hoping to welcome Holbrooke.

January 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Amid the deepening chill in India-Pakistan relations, Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrives here on a two-day visit Sunday to discuss counter-terror cooperation in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks. Karzai will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday to discuss the developments in the wake of the Nov 26 Mumbai carnage, in which India suspects the involvement of Pakistan-based elements and its official agencies.