Days after the UN sanctions and the US imposing a new set of stiff sanctions on Tehran, India will keep its diplomatic and economic engagement on track when Iranian finance minister Shamsuddin Huseini holds talks here July 8-9. Mr Husseini arrives here Wednesday on a three-day visit with a delegation comprising officials from the
ministries of finance and petroleum. External affairs minister S.M. Krishna will hold two-day delegation-level talks with Iran’s minister of economic affairs and finance at the 16th joint commission Thursday, official sources said. The two sides will review steps to expand cooperation in diverse areas, including industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and mines, added the sources. They will also discuss expanded cooperation in science and technology, IT, nano-technology, bio-technology and energy. The two ministers are expected to sign a joint document laying out various areas of cooperation between India and Iran. They are also expected to explore possibilities of cooperation in Afghanistan as both have apprehensions about a takeover by the Taliban that will invariably impinge on their strategic interests in the region. The two sides will also discuss the tri-nation gas pipeline that has been bogged down for years over differences on key issues like pricing of the gas and the security of the pipeline. —IANS