'India welcomes Obama's engagement efforts with Iran'

I / Washington November 24, 2009, 10:21 IST

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has welcomed US President Barack Obama's efforts to engage with Iran without preconditions, hoping this will end the stand-off between Tehran and western countries over the issue of nuclear enrichment.

Singh stated that Iran as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty had the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes but could not develop a weapon.

"As far as Iran's nuclear weapon ambitions are concerned I have stated unambiguously on several occasions that we do not support the nuclear weapon ambitions of Iran," he said during an interaction at the Council on Foreign Relations, a prominent think tank, on the second day of his four-day visit here.

He also indicated that India would abide by any UNSC resolution on the issue when asked if New Delhi would support sanctions against Iran.

"If the Security Council in its wisdom passes any resolution, we have in the past abided by the decisions of the Security Council," Singh said.

Pointing out that Obama had "opened a new pathway of engagement without preconditions" with Iran, he expressed hope that it will "yield results." Unlike his predecessor George W Bush's aggressive stand,

President Obama has decided to engage diplomatically with Tehran but the exchange has not yielded concrete results.

Recently, Western powers revealed the existence of a secret underground plant but Tehran maintains that its nuclear enrichment program is for peaceful purposes.

Describing a recent conversation he had with Iranian Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki, Singh noted that Mottaki expressed hopes of Obama's path of engagement leading to positive developments.

"While talking he (Mottaki) mentioned explicitly to me that Iran is encouraged by the messages that it is receiving from the new Obama administration and that he was hopeful that they would lead to constructive productive results," he said, adding the path had productive results which would be for the good for humanity at large.

Singh highlighted that Iran was a member of the NPT, and should abide by its obligations under the agreement.

"Iran is a signatory to the NPT as such it has all the right that go with its membership of the NPT is use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," the Prime Minister said.

"At the same time it has obligations that go with its membership, and this rules out the nuclear weapon part. There is no ambiguity in our position," he added.