New Delhi, April 13: India’s decision to depute its ambassador to participate in the upcoming disarmament meet in Tehran has not gone down well with the Iran government.
Sources said Iran expected New
Delhi to nominate at least a minister of state or the national security adviser ( NSA) for the key meet, which comes close on the heels of the Nuclear Security Summit in the US. The summit is being attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself.
Iran, along with North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela, has not been invited by the Obama administration.
Though satisfied with India’s stand during the talks between the PM and US President Barack Obama on Sunday — India remained opposed to fresh sanctions against Iran for its nuclear programme — Iran is unhappy over the decision to appoint ambassador to Tehran Sanjay Singh for the April 17- 18 meet, dubbed ‘ Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapon for None’. Iran, isolated by the West over its atomic programme suspected of developing nuclear weapons, has been keen for Indian participation in the conference, which it believes can add some legitimacy to what is widely seen as another tactic to deflect the Western pressure over its nuclear ambitions.
Sources said India could, therefore, have attached more importance to the meet by sending NSA Shivshankar Menon.
But Iran has decided not to express its displeasure over the matter officially.
The Tehran meet will be attended by ministers, officials and nuclear experts from over 55 countries.
Regarding India’s stand at the Indo- US bilateral meet, sources hoped that New Delhi would “ walk the talk”. Briefing the media following the meet, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao confirmed that the Iran issue had figured during the talks.
“ I believe our views are well- known to
the US… We have always stressed that Iran has certain obligations to fulfil as a member of the Non- Proliferation Treaty… Also, our position that sanctions when they target ordinary people have always been counter- productive was mentioned by the prime minister,” Rao said, indicating the stand of the government whose Iran policy has come under criticism during Singh’s regime.
The US had earlier asked India to play a key role in galvanising global support for sanctions against Tehran. But Delhi has maintained that sanctions are not the answer, be it the nuclear issue in Iran or the situation in Myanmar.
India and the US have decided to remain in touch over the Iran issue.
Also, India has consistently advocated dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the issue.
Last November, though India backed an international resolution against Iran over its nuclear programme, it pointed out that it was opposed to “ a renewed punitive approach or sanctions” and stressed the need for “ keeping doors open for dialogue”. That was the third time in the last five years that India voted against Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Ahead of the Washington summit, India had made it clear that the meet was not about country- specific situations. Rao had herself stressed that Iran was a responsible country with which India had shared good ties for decades.
As if to make its own statement on the issue of nuclear disarmament, Iran is now organising the global meet.
—Agencies