India: Iran Push to Bush Meeting

The Telegraph UK:

Manmohan Singh has sought a meeting with George W. Bush on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week, following reports from Washington raising doubts over India’s stand on the alleged nuclear programme being pursued by Iran. READ MORE

The meeting between the Prime Minister and the US President will be held either on September 13 or 14.

Indian officials said the meeting will allow the leaders to discuss several issues of mutual interest, including the possible visit by Bush to India early next year.

Singh is scheduled to leave on Sunday for his eight-day visit, which also includes a stopover in Paris for a bilateral meeting. He will spend two days in Paris before leaving for the General Assembly and the Millennium Development Summit in New York.

However, reports from Washington suggest that some members of the US Congress have raised doubts over Indo-Iranian relations and have sought to know from the Bush administration India’s position on the Iranian nuclear programme.

The questions were raised at a time when the US government has begun getting Congress’s approval on the deal that Singh and Bush signed in July on cooperation in nuclear civilian energy.

A leading Democrat of the US House of Representatives, Tom Lantos, was quoted by agencies as raising objections to India’s opposition to a key element in US foreign policy. “New Delhi must understand how important its cooperation is for US initiatives to counter the nuclear threat from Iran,” he was reported to have said.

The report also referred to remarks foreign secretary Shyam Saran was supposed to have made recently on Iran. “India’s relations with Iran are not predicated on positions and views attributed to some governments,” Saran reportedly said.

Reports from the US suggested that Nick Burns, the under secretary of state, has assured the Congress members that he would seek a clarification from Saran.

However, the foreign secretary said the reported statement had no basis and made it clear that so far he had not received any request for clarification.

“There is no ambiguity on India’s position on the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme,” Saran said this afternoon. “India is against proliferation of any weapon of mass destruction and there can be no exception on this.”

Saran clarified that India believes Iran and all other countries must deliver on their treaty obligations.