President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with the Iranian President Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the G15 Summit. The two leaders will discuss strengthening of ties between the two countries, FARS New Agency reports.

The President is due to participate in the 14th Summit of the Group 15 in Tehran in mid May. A high-level delegation led by the President will attend the summit.

The President visited Tehran twice during his first term and is scheduled to take over the Chairmanship of the Group during the summit in Tehran.

The G-15, which was established in 1989 as a community of the most successful Third World countries, comprises 18 countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Iran, Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe are members of the Group.

Iran took over the Chairmanship of the Group 15 in the 13th summit held in Havana, Cuba in September 2006.