India wants to expand its influence beyond South Asia , and to that end it has turned to a seemingly unlikely partner: Iran. But Iran may be a more logical choice than it would first appear. Their shared history of cooperation actually dates back to the 16th century, when Persian was the official language of India's Mughal Empire. More recently, India and Iran jointly supported the Northern Alliance against the Taliban in Afghanistan during the first phase of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001. Both are also home to large Muslim populations. Beyond history and culture, their cooperation also extends to the energy sector. Iran is India's sixth largest supplier of oil, providing 250,000 barrels per day, roughly 6 percent of India's crude oil imports. The two nations have also been negotiating on various energy projects.