India still hopeful of n-cooperation with US

On Iran, Menon said it was not in India’s interest to have another nuclear weapons state in its neighbourhood, but Tehran had the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy subject to its international obligations. Menon said India had made it clear that while Iran might have the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy it also had an obligation to various international commitments it undertook. “Ultimately it is an issue of whether or not it is implementing the obligations it undertook. It depends on technical assessments which are best done by the IAEA,” he said.

Emphasising the need to change the manner in which the world looks at non-proliferation, Menon favoured new international consensus on the issue. “We need to have a system in place to which Iran is a party…sanctions or military action—none of them is a lasting solution—will only exacerbate the situation. We need to evolve something that involves Iran,” he said.

Menon also sought to allay apprehensions about a nuclear flare-up between India and Pakistan, both nuclear-capable states.

“Immediately after the 1998 tests, both India and Pakistan realised that we needed to be in touch with each other. In 1999 itself, we agreed on a series of nuclear confidence building measures and we have been carrying that out,” he said.

India and Pakistan had set up an expert group on nuclear CBMs which produced results, Menon said adding that the two countries notified each other on ballistic missile tests and had a series of engagements.