India, Iran swap notes

India today conveyed to Iran that it wanted to avoid a reference of the nuclear issue to the UN Security Council and was working closely wit...

India today conveyed to Iran that it wanted to avoid a reference of the nuclear issue to the UN Security Council and was working closely with Russia, China and the EU-3 (France, Germany and UK) to arrive at a ‘‘mutually acceptable solution’’ before the next IAEA meeting in November.

This was indicated by External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh to Iranian Vice-President Pervez Dawoodi at Moscow on Wednesday when the two met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet.

According to the MEA spokesperson, Singh told Dawoodi that New Delhi was in favour of an amicable solution within the purview of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Iranian Vice-President is said to have appreciated the Indian position.

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Dawoodi, for his part, emphasised the cultural links between the two countries and said Tehran attatched great importance to economic cooperation with India.

‘‘He also mentioned that the current volume of bilateral trade does not reflect the true potential that exists in the relationship. The External Affairs Minister reciprocated these sentiments and reiterated India’s keen desire to promote long-term energy cooperation with Iran, added the spokesperson.

India’s decision to support the IAEA resolution against Iran’s nuclear programme last month had led to strained relations and had raised questions over the status of the proposed $7.4 bn gas pipeline project as also the LNG deal. Tehran had later clarified that such one-off decisions would not hamper the ties between the two countries.