Ahmadinejad urges independent states to confront colonial powers

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here on Saturday said independent countries should confront the new policies of colonial powers. The President made the remark in a meeting with the visiting Indian Parliament Speaker Meira Kumar. He referred to the latest disputes among hegemonic powers over the way of dividing world countries among themselves and said the old colonial powers were now taking the scene under a new disguise using the NATO forces. Pointing to the current situation in Libya, he said that oppressive powers have blocked the assets of the Libyan nation and are quarreling on how to divide the country's resources among themselves. The President said the independent countries should start confronting these policies in their very beginning because later they will have to pay a higher price and spend hundreds of years to expel them. He said the growing cooperation between Iran and India on regional issues will bring peace and stability to the region, stressing that the two nations enjoy rich cultures and share many cultural commonalties. President Ahmadinejad further called for expansion of Tehran-New Delhi economic cooperation and, pointing to the membership of both countries in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), said in the present situation where the United Nations is unable to tackle world problems, cooperation among NAM countries could help remove world problems. Kumar noted that all members of his parliament who represent one billion Indians are in favor of expanding ties with Iran.