Sticking to its stand on Iran, India on Tuesday sought intensive diplomatic consultations to evolve international consensus on how to deal with Tehran's decision to continue uranium enrichment programme, notwithstanding American and European pressure to abandon it.
The Iran issue figured prominently during a 45-minute meeting External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh had in New York with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which a senior official said was held in a 'cordial and friendly atmosphere'.
The Singh-Rice meeting comes within a week of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush, during which it was made clear that India did not not want another nuclear weapon state in its neighbourhood.
It also took place a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the UN General Assembly that it would continue its uranium enrichment programme, asserting it was only for peaceful purposes. Washington fears that Tehran would divert the enriched uranium for making nuclear weapons.
During his talks with Bush, Dr Singh had affirmed that India was not holding a brief or alibi for Iran's nuclear programme and that another nuclear weapons power in the neighbourhood was not good. India has maintained that Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, must fulfil its international obligations and, at the same time, diplomacy must be given maximum scope to resolve the issue.
Ahead of his meeting, Natwar Singh had, in a television interview, said India was not apologetic about its relations with Iran, while hoping that Tehran's nuclear issue would be sorted out within IAEA framework during the Vienna meet.
During the meeting with Rice, the External Affairs Minister reaffirmed the Indian position on the issue, besides discussing several regional and bilateral matters. They reviewed recent developments on several multilateral and regional issues, the official said, adding that Rice briefed Singh on the agreement reached in the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue.
The two leaders welcomed the landmark agreement, which has led to the abandonment of the nuclear weapon programme by North Korea and its return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The agreement was testimony to the importance of relying on patient, multilateral efforts to resolve a difficult and complex issue, Singh said.