Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has stressed the significance of expanding bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic and India.

"Officials and politicians of the two countries should increase and expand ties and meetings," Salehi said in a meeting with India's National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon in Tehran on Tuesday.

He also pointed out that Iran and India have historical and cultural commonalities, adding that New Delhi plays an important role in the region and the world, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran and New Delhi can raise cooperation in economic, trade, technology, and other sectors given Iran's rich energy resources and India's technological achievements.

The Indian national security advisor, for his part, said that the two nations should strengthen their relations in new fields.

Menon also met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday.

The Islamic Republic is India's second-largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, with New Delhi importing 12 million barrels of Iranian crude on a monthly basis.

Trade volume between Iran and India reached almost $13 billion in 2007 after business between the two countries jumped by 80 percent.