NEW DELHI A one-day seminar on India-Iran relations organized by Iran's Cultural Center in New Delhi was held yesterday with the compassion message of Iranian officials and the people regarding the tragic earthquake in the western State of Gujarat.

According to IRNA, Iranian Cultural Counselor Issa Rezazadeh in the welcome address said that "various aspects of Indo-Iranian relations will be discussed in different fields including historic, cultural and economic," by the eminent scholars.

Expressing regret on the Gujarat earthquake tragedy, he said, "The Iranian nation has always stood by the Indian nation," referring to the expansion of Indo-Iranian relations.

Syed Shahid Mahdi, vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi at the inaugural ceremony hailed the notion of "dialogue among civilizations" as being put forward by President Khatami.

"In the prevailing scenario of globalization, the concept of dialogue among civilizations is very useful," Mahdi said.

The seminar was held in three sessions. The first session was held under the chairmanship of Syed Shahid Mahdi, the second under the chairmanship of Professor Harbans Mukhia, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the third under the chairmanship of Professor Muzzaffar Alam, Center for Historical Studies of JNU.

Relations between India and Iran has grown considerably during the year 2000.

On the sidelines of the seminar there was an exhibition on Iranian calligraphy and painting in which works of Shahzad Swahlipur (painter) and Amir Ahmad Falsafi (calligrapher) were displayed.

(IRNA)