Mumbai: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will make his first official visit to India next week even as India firmly told the US that it does not want "any guidance" on its conduct of bilateral relations with Iran.

Ahmadinejad will spend a few hours in India on April 29 in a stop-over after a visit to Sri Lanka, in a sign of the two countries' resolve to deepen energy ties despite US opposition.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh, also told Washington that both New Delhi and Tehran are "perfectly capable" of "managing all aspects of their relationship".

Manmohan's comments came after US once again asked New Delhi to talk tough with Tehran about its controversial nuclear programme during Ahmadinejad's visit here.

Energy issues will top the agenda during the visit as energy-hungry India looks to Iran as a long-term energy partner.

New Delhi is also hoping to kick-start stalled negotiations over the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project to transport natural gas to India from Iran via Pakistan.

New Delhi also wants to revive a 2005 agreement to import five million tonnes of liquefied natural gas from Iran.

India has been boycotting trilateral meetings on the IPI gas pipeline project since mid-2007, citing unresolved issues of transit fees and transportation tariffs with Pakistan.

The proposed pipeline would initially carry 60 million cubic metres of gas daily to Pakistan and India, half for each country. The capacity would be raised to 150 million cubic metres at a later date.

Petroleum minister Murli Deora is also visiting Pakistan this week to discuss the pipeline project.

Discussion are expected to centre on the role of Indian companies in the development of Iran's energy sector amid US pressure not to invest in the country.

Last year, private sector Essar had to back down from setting up a refinery in Iran that would have violated US sanctions.

State-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has also been in talks to develop oil and gas fields in Iran.

Iran has the world's second-largest reserves of oil and gas, and sees companies in India as less susceptible than many others to Western pressure over Tehran's nuclear programme.