New Delhi
7 October 2005
External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh on Friday
advocated dialogue to resolve "contradictions" between India and Iran,
which enjoyed civilisational links and were "neighbours until 1947".
On the occasion of the release of a book titled "Iran Today: 25 years after
the Islamic Revolution", he observed, "[C]ontradictions are best resolved
by engagement and dialogue [and] sincerely implementing the
commitments made".
In his first public appearance after India voted against Iran in the
September 24 meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, Mr Natwar Singh
refused to take questions from media persons.
The minister merely stated in his brief address that India and Iran would
endeavour to "remain close partners" and strive to strengthen the
"mutually beneficial links consistent with our national interest".
Addressing the gathering at the Observer Research Foundation, which
included among others the Iranian ambasador in India, Mr SZ Yaghoubi,
he minister said both countries shared a "strategic dimension" to their
bilateral ties.
The strategic relationship, he explained, spanned such diverse areas as
hydrocarbons, trade and commerce, transit routes, information
technology, education and science and technology.
Mr Natwar Singh's comments come even as the Left parties plan to
launch a programme in protest against the decision by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's government to vote for the EU-3 resolution on Iran.
In an article published in the CPI(M) organ "People's Democracy", its
general secretary, Mr Prakash Karat, has held Dr Singh responsible for
effecting a major shift in India's hitherto independent foreign policy.
Earlier, external Affairs Minister Natwar Singh shared the dais with Iran's
ambassador in India, Mr Yaghoubi, for the release of the book that has
been edited by a former diplomat, Mr M Hamid Ansari.
The compilation of essays traces Iran's growth since the 1970 Revolution,
which changed the socio-political structure of that country and disturbed
the strategic balance in the region.
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