Merkel gets Nehru Award,targets Iran’s N-programme

Angela Merkel was conferred with the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was conferred with the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding at a glittering function here where she made a strong pitch for curbing nuclear proliferation with special focus on Iran.

Hours after her flight to India was delayed by two hours as Tehran denied overflight permission before finally relenting,Merkel said Iran should remove doubts about its nuclear programme.

She noted that Germany and India had joined hands at the UN Security Council in trying to make Iran see the “error” of its approach and “influence it in such a way that it has a change of heart”.

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“We need to keep a close eye on nuclear proliferation,” she said after receiving the award for her ‘enormous efforts for sustainable and equitable development’ from President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan in presence of a host of dignitaries,including Prime Minister Manmohan singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

“We need to see to it that we prevent this (nuclear proliferation) from spreading. Iran is a particularly a topical case,” Merkel said.

Talking about the challenges of today,she said Germany and India are one in saying that there is a need for change in the existing organisations in such a way that they are capable to meet these.

“We need to work together for reforms of the UNSC because the composition and the format of the UNSC these days no longer reflects reality,” said the German Chancellor whose country is a part of G-4 along with India which is pushing for reform of the UN.

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