New Delhi today opposed any use of military force to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue, saying the matter should be settled through talks without escalating tensions in the region.External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who arrived here today to impart “greater substance and strategic content” to bilateral ties, said Tehran should at the same time “keep in view” the opinion of the international community, including the IAEA.“India has all along stated that military means is not a solution (to Iran’s nuclear issue). A solution has to be found through dialogue, howsoever strenuous it may be,” he said amid reports about a US military build-up in the Persian Gulf region.“Our position is that it (nuclear issue) should be resolved through dialogue. It cannot be resolved through coercive measures,” he told reporters. Mukherjee, who will meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tomorrow and hold talks with his counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, said Iran had the right to conduct a civil nuclear programme like any other country but it also had certain obligations as a signatory to the NPT.Official sources said that Mukherjee may delay his return to Delhi by a couple of hours to ensure his meeting with Ahmadinejad who’s expected back tomorrow from a provincial tour.Sources said that Mukherjee would bring up the situation in the region as tension mounts over Iran’s nuclear programme. “His attempt would be to ensure that there’s no turbulence in the region as it may affect the energy prices and hence, India’s current economic growth,” the sources said.It could also delay talks on the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline which has entered its penultimate stage with Iran outlining the gas price formula. India has sought four weeks to decide whether the formula is acceptable to it or not.The US, which enacted a law last month for global nuclear commerce with India in return for the latter placing most of its nuclear reactors under international safeguards, expects India’s cooperation in dissuading Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.India and Russia also agreed last month to cooperate to find ‘an effective solution’ to the Iranian nuclear standoff through ‘political and diplomatic efforts’. Mukherjee’s visit is the first by India ever since it voted against Iran’s nuclear programme twice at the IAEA. He is scheduled to meet Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.His visit comes a day after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf made an unscheduled stopover to Tehran and met Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. — (With PTI)
