NEW DELHI, 8 September 2007 — On the second leg of his tour, Mahdi Safari, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, arrived here yesterday at the head of a delegation. Safari earlier visited Pakistan.
As the Indo-US nuclear deal sharpens the political divide here and the left parties question the government’s foreign policy, Safari has arrived to push the tri-nation gas pipeline and to intensify business ties.
Safari, who arrived here Thursday on a four-day visit, met Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon yesterday morning and discussed a swathe of bilateral issues, including the multibillion dollar tri-nation pipeline that will bring the Iranian gas to India via Pakistan.
Safari later met Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. He briefed Mukherjee about Tehran’s ongoing negotiations with the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the nature of its nuclear program.
He is also likely to meet Petroleum Minister Murli Deora to discuss the pipeline project that is said to be in the final stages of negotiations.
On the talks held between Mukherjee and Safari, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna said: “India’s consistent stand was reiterated that Iran has a right to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy while fulfilling all its international commitments and obligations.”
India conveyed to Iran “the need for active and transparent cooperation with the IAEA” and urged Tehran to are move all “doubts and uncertainties” about the nature of its nuclear program, Sarna said.
Technical aspects of the transportation of gas to India and Pakistan are currently under study, said Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Reza Kasaii Zadeh recently.
Safari, who looks after Asia-Pacific and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs in the Iranian Foreign Ministry, is also expected to meet National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan.
The timing of Safari’s visit to India acquires an added significance for the government which has been facing flak from its left allies who are fiercely opposed to the India-US civilian nuclear deal and point to India’s vote against Iran’s nuclear program to argue that the government has compromised the independence of the country’s foreign policy. The government may seize on Safari’s visit to convince the critics about the “independence” of its foreign policy.
Safari’s visit will also be keenly watched in Washington which is using its diplomatic clout to isolate Iran over its suspected nuclear weapons program and has tried to enlist the cooperation of India, among other countries, to “dissuade and contain” Iran from the development of nuclear weapons. The US managed to insert the clause on Iran in the nonbinding section of the Hyde Act, which paved the way for civil nuclear commerce with India by granting it a one-time waiver last year.
New Delhi has conveyed its objections to Washington about “extraneous prescriptions” like the Iranian clause in the US legislation and maintained that Tehran has a right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy but it must abide by the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, of which it is a signatory.
