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'Ties with Iran multi-faceted'

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI OCT. 21. India does not believe that its relationship with Iran will have a bearing on its deepening ties with the United States, the Foreign Office spokesman said today.

Speaking in the context of the recent visit by the Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal, to Iran the spokesman said New Delhi's bilateral relationship with Iran was multi-faceted. He maintained that India's relationship with the U.S. stood on its own as did its ties with Iran.

Mr. Sibal visited Teheran on October 19-20 for consultations with his counterpart, the Deputy Foreign Minister, Aminzadeh. He also called on the Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharazzi, and Hasan Rehani, secretary of Iran's National Security Council.

The strategic dialogue, the second of its kind, began after the visit of the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, to Iran last year. Apart from discussing bilateral issues, the two countries shared their perceptions on the situation in Afghanistan as well as on Iraq.

On Afghanistan, the two sides discussed the possibility of joint projects in the infrastructure sector.

The spokesman said that feasibility studies were being conducted on an Iran-India oil pipeline, adding that "all options" were under study as far as the pipeline was concerned. (Separately, sources said that the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, was likely to visit India early next year. They said that India and Iran had common views on Iraq inasmuch as the fact that they both wanted the United Nations to guide any military moves against Iraq).

On the continuing controversy about whether or not the Prime Minister will travel to Islamabad for the SAARC summit, the spokesman said the dates were yet to be finalised. "Once we have the dates, the entire issue will have to be examined," the spokesman maintained.

"I am not aware if the dates have been finalised," he said when asked to comment on the statement made by the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, yesterday.

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