Iran’s Right to Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy Should be Respected: India

After the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, India responded a day later, on May 9, saying that the country’s right to “peaceful uses of nuclear energy” should be respected by all parties involved in the deal.

“India has always maintained that Iranian nuclear issue should be resolved peacefully through dialogue and diplomacy by respecting Iran’s right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy and international community’s strong interest in exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said, according to the Times of India.

“All parties should engage constructively to address and resolve issues that have arises with respect to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” it said.

The decision by U.S. President Donald Trump on May 8 has led to an outcry in the global diplomatic circles. French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had met Trump a day before to dissuade him from leaving the nuclear deal with Iran but were unsuccessful in changing his mind to leave a deal that he said was “defective at its core.”

However, the Iranian nuclear deal is “not dead” despite Trump’s decision, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was quoted as saying by BBC on May 9.

The deal was agreed in 2015 between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia — plus Germany, under the leadership of former U.S. President Barack Obama. According to the deal, Iran would eliminate its nuclear stockpile but maintain its peaceful nuclear program, and in return, would receive relief from the nuclear-related economic sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union, and the United Nations Security Council.

The other signatories have said that they will remain in the deal.

India is speaking in support of Iran because of its interests in the Chabahar Port located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman, which gives India access to Afghanistan and Eurasia, bypassing Pakistan. It serves as India’s answer to China developing the Gwadar Port in Pakistan as part of its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

It was reported in February this year that India would invest in Iran to bypass impending U.S. sanctions, according to the Economic Times. The decision was reportedly made during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to India in February. India is already set to develop the Chabahar Port at a cost of $85 million over the course of 18 months. India has also extended a $150 million credit line to Iran through Exim Bank of India and offered to supply $400 million worth of steel towards the construction of the rail link between Chabahar and Zahedan.

India has also engaged with the United States as part of a quadrilateral that also includes Australia and Japan to stop China’s aggressive growth in the Asia Pacific region.