India denies US pressure, keeps Iran pipeline option open
April 3rd, 2010 - 9:59 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, April 3 (IANS) Denying any US pressure on its ties with Iran, India has decided to nominate its ambassador to participate in a meet on nuclear disarmament in Tehran and stressed that it has not shut its door on the pipeline project.
Four days after the Nuclear Security Summit in the US, Iran, under escalating international pressure over its nuclear programme, will be hosting a two-day conference April 17 on nuclear disarmament and has sought India’s support for this initiative.
India’s Ambassador to Iran Sanjay Singh will participate in the April 17-18 Tehran meet on nuclear disarmament entitled “Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapon for None.”
Keen to keep its bilateral ties on track, India has not withdrawn from the proposed $7.5 billion tri-nation pipeline, well-placed sources Saturday said.
“We haven’t shut the door on dialogue. Besides pricing and security issues, the volatile situation in Pakistan also has a bearing on the project,” the source said.
Last month, Iran and Pakistan struck a bilateral pact on the pipeline project, but left the door open for India to join in at a later stage.
Underlining India’s civilisational ties with Iran, the sources pointed out that Tehran is important for New Delhi not just for energy but also for strategic reasons in Afghanistan.
India, Iran and Russia had cooperated closely in propping up the Northern Alliance after the US-led ouster of the Taliban regime late 2001.
The source also denied any American pressure on India to scale down its ties with Iran, saying New Delhi’s ties with Tehran stand independently of its relations with other countries.
Alluding to additional sanctions contemplated by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany against the Iranian regime in the UN Security Council, the source said India has always advocated dialogue to resolve the issue and pressed Tehran to adhere to its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In November last year, India had backed an international resolution for the third time against Iran over its nuclear programme, but qualified it by saying it was opposed to “a renewed punitive approach or sanctions” and stressed the need for “keeping doors open for dialogue”.
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Tags: bilateral pact, bilateral ties, iranian regime, members of the un security council, northern alliance, nuclear disarmament, nuclear energy, nuclear security, nuclear weapon, ouster, pipeline project, sanjay singh, security issues, security summit, situation in pakistan, taliban regime, tehran, tri nation, un security council, volatile situation