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India sees no advantage in taking action against Iran

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, March 18, IRNA
India-Nuclear-Narayanan
The Indian National Security Advisor, M K Narayanan said, "India saw no advantage in taking action against Iran after its referral to the Security Council over its nuclear program."
"Nothing will be served by threatening Iran. We wanted to resolve it within the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) framework. But unfortunately that has not been possible," Narayanan said in an interview to the news magazine 'The Week'.

On India's nuclear deal with the US he said, there should be no cause of concern for Pakistan and China as it leaves New Delhi's strategic nuclear capabilities unchanged.

Also, he rebutted suggestions that the US is using India to contain China, saying no American leader had spoken on such terms during President George W Bush's visit earlier this month to India.

"President Bush did not raise this issue even once. Nor has US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley or US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The nuclear deal sealed with the US during Bush's visit to the country does not influence India's nuclear program," he said. Rather, it has put a large number of reactors under international safeguards, Narayanan added.

"The strategic part (of our nuclear program) is unaffected, whether we are in it (nuclear deal) or not. So neither China nor Pakistan has any reason to feel more concerned," Narayanan remarked when asked the neighbours did not seem to be pleased with India's landmark pact with the United States.

"Our capacity to threaten them (Pakistan and China) is less (now).

But we are not threatening anybody. We are only keeping something with us so that we can strike back if somebody does that." Narayanan, one of the chief negotiators of the India-US agreement, said he was hopeful that boundary talks with China too would have positive results.

Both countries, he added, were creating a framework aimed at resolving the issues facing them before they moved ahead for actual delineation of their borders.

"It is a difficult task. Finally things will work out like the nuclear deal," Narayanan remarked.

The National Security Adviser, who described China as a "primary Asian power", however, said India was in a placed much better than that of its giant neighbour in terms of its ties with South-East and East Asian countries.

"Yes, in the immediate neighbourhood, there are countries which have problems with us. Some of them look to China as counterweight.

There is some degree of concern on this point. But I don't think, China and India are in any mood for a confrontational relationship," he added.

Asked about his comments on Nepal's royalist regime, Narayanan said King Gyanendra should try to restore parliamentary democracy in the Himalayan Kingdom.

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