Persian/ Indian

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Relations between India and Iran date back to the common prehistoric Indo-Iranian heritage (which connects all of Greater Persia and Greater India) from 3,000-2,000 BC and the Indo-Parthian and Indo-Scythian kingdoms of antiquity to the strongly Persianized Islamic empires in India in the 13th to 19th centuries.

After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Iran withdrew from CENTO and dissociated itself from US-friendly countries, including Pakistan, which automatically entailed improved relationship with the Republic of India.

Currently, the two countries have friendly relations in many areas. There are significant trade ties, particularly in crude oil imports into India and diesel exports to Iran. Iran frequently objected to Pakistan's attempts to draft anti-India resolutions at international organizations such as the OIC. India welcomed Iran's inclusion as an observer state in the SAARC regional organization.

Lucknow continues to be a major centre of Shiite culture and Persian study in the subcontinent.

In the 1990s, India and Iran both supported the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan against the Taliban regime. They continue to collaborate in supporting the broad-based anti-Taliban government led by Hamid Karzai and backed by the United States.

History

Further information: India and Central Asia

Pre-Aryan civilizations

The Indus Valley (Harappan) civilization, which is the oldest historically known civilization in ancient India, was contemporary with the Proto-Elamite and Elamite civilizations in ancient Iran. The Indus people had trade links with (even northern) Afghanistan, the coastal regions of Iran, and the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia. At Susa in the western part of Iran, decorated pottery has been excavated which appears to be similar to those of the Kulli culture in the north-west of the Indian subcontinent. Indus seals have also been excavated at Kish, Sura and Ur. The Harappan culture, in what is now Pakistan and adjacent western regions of India, imported silver, copper, turquoise and lapis lazuli from Persia and Afghanistan, in return for ivory. In terms of linguistics, it has been theorized that the Indus people spoke a Dravidian language. In the Balochistan region in the southeast of Iran and in the southwest of Pakistan, the Brahui people traditionally speak a Dravidian language. The Elamo-Dravidian languages form a theorized, though disputed language family that includes the ancient Elamite language of Iran and the Dravidian languages of the Indian subcontinent, suggesting a possible linguistic relationship between the Elamites and Harappans before the arrival of Indo-Iranians.

Read more at Wikipedia.org