India should implement sanctions on Iran, says US

Lauding India's "admirable" record in implementing the United Nations Security Council resolutions, the US has voiced confidence that the country would fully enforce the latest tough sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.

"I think India's record on implementation of previous Security Council resolutions has been an admirable one. I do expect that India, as its leadership has made clear publicly, will follow through and implement the new resolution" of the UN Security Council imposing sanctions against Iran, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns told media-persons in Washington on Thursday. Burns said it was worth noting that India had voted three times in the IAEA Board of Governors to hold Iran accountable for its failure to meet its international obligations.

"Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh has also reinforced on a number of occasions the fact that India shares international concerns about a nuclear-armed Iran and the obvious negative consequences that would have for a part of the world that's very important to both of us as well as to the global economy," Burns said in response to a question. Iran was one of the issues of discussions when leaders of India and the US met for the first-ever Cabinet-level Strategic Dialogue between the two countries on June 3. "I think we have come to quite a good understanding of where each other stands on this very, very important issue for both of us," Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, said on Tuesday.

"This was a subject of conversation during the Strategic Dialogue (between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his American counterpart Hillary Clinton) but has also been a continuing part of our conversation in every meeting that we have with our Indian friends," he said. From the US perspective, the most important thing has been India's "strong support in, first, observing all of the UN Security Council obligations, but also the very important votes that it has taken in the IAEA taking a strong stand against Iran's nuclear weapons program," Blake said. "India has explained to us that it has important links with Iran, first of all because its transit into Afghanistan is closed by Pakistan so it must use Iran to get many of its goods, and indeed people, into Afghanistan through Iran. So that's a very important part of their relations," he observed.