By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made it clear that India does not support Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions, but hoped that President Barack Obama’s approach of engagement without pre-conditions would yield positive results.
“As far as Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions are concerned I have stated it unambiguously on several occasions that we don’t support nuclear ambitions of Iran,” he said Monday at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a leading US think-tank.
While as a signatory to NPT (Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty) it has all the rights that flow from the NPT for the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, it has obligations that go with its membership, he said in reply to a question.
“There is no ambiguity in our position and we are quite clear in our thinking that Iran should not go in for nuclear weapon or all that is inconsistent with obligations as member of NPT.”
The Prime Minister also made it clear that India would abide any sanctions imposed by the Security Council on Iran, but indicated that he favoured the path of engagement with Iran.
“Now as regards the sanctions, let me say that if the Security Council in its wisdom passes a new resolution we have in the past abided” by its decisions, he said. But “as I see President Obama’s approach of engagement without preconditions we feel would yield results.”
Recalling a conversation with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, who visited India last week, he said he “mentioned to me the messages that it (Iran) is receiving from the Obama administration and he was hopeful that would yield constructive results.”
“I hope that if that yields productive results that would be for the good of humanity at large,” Manmohan Singh said.