Monday Apr 28, 2008
Today, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad will start a tour of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, the president will first land in Islamabad, where he is planned to stay for four hours and meet Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

President Ahmadinejad will then head for Colombo for a two-day visit, where the two countries will sign some cooperation agreements.

The President is scheduled to visit New Delhi on Tuesday and discuss issues of mutual interest with Indian President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Ahmadinejad will return home on Wednesday.

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday that President Ahmadinejad's stopovers in Islamabad and New Delhi will focus on helping both Governments overcome glitches in the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project and seek an early signing of the agreement, according to Iranian diplomats.

Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan, Mashallah Shakeri, said: "The IPI (peace pipeline project) is on the agenda of talks during the President's visit."

MNA