US downplays India's Iran ties

WASHINGTON: The US has sought to underplay its concerns over India's ties with Iran after reports that Washington wanted an explanation from New Delhi added fuel to the raging political fire over their nuclear deal.

"We understand that India is going to have ties with Iran. All countries in the neighbourhood are going to have ties with Iran," said Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher, whose purported remarks had raised the hackles of the Indian Left already at loggerheads with the government.

"Our expectation is that most countries in the region would have some kind of relations with Iran, but we are hoping that they are sort of normal and not undermine one or the other of our goals," he told postgraduate students at Washington's Johns Hopkins University Thursday.

As at a briefing organised by the US-India Business Alliance on the Capitol Hill Tuesday, here too Boucher suggested that some of the fears about India's military ties with Iran were exaggerated.

"Certainly there have been a number of exercises. Some of the training it turns out to be was at cadet level; some of the exchanges don't lead to a lot. But ... we haven't seen anything that is considered significant in the military or strategic sense," he said, giving India a kind of clean chit.

This time he did not say what was earlier construed as a demand for an explanation from New Delhi: "But I think it's more on the Indian side to try to explain exactly what is and what is not going on in its relations with Iran."

Continuing a delicate balancing act, Boucher said where they saw concern was over some sort of military relationship, particularly in the Congress, as they consider the nuclear deal.

'... but the fact is when you are considering a very important deal, one has to look at whether this issue has any ramification or not.'

In fact, the US was more concerned about Iran's behaviour in the neighbourhood, particularly Afghanistan and Iraq, he said, again suggesting that Washington had no problems with countries having what he called 'normal relations' with Tehran.

Asked to comment on the ongoing debate over the nuclear deal in India, Boucher said: "The debate within Indian parliament, between Indian political parties is one that proceeds best between the Indian political parties without involvement or comment from the Assistant Secretary of State."

While he clearly didn't wish to further muddy the political waters, the US official again touted the benefits of the deal saying the 'fundamental contract is in the interest of both India and the US. Fundamentally it's a good deal'.

He was confident that the deal would be completed 'sooner or later but sooner the better' - repeating a remark that was considered by some in India as a gentle nudge and by others as a kind of shove.

And as a final argument to sell the deal, Boucher repeated what he had told business leaders and Congressional staffers the other day. "The sooner we can do it the sooner the kids can turn the lights on to do their homework."

But even as he recognised that India has to go through the democratic process 'just as we have gone through ours', he made no reference to hints from other officials that if India does not get its act together soon, the Congressional clock will wind down with the US presidential election heating up early next year.

In reply to other questions, Boucher said Washington can have good relationship with both China and India. "We want better relations with both billions," he quipped, referring to the billion plus populations of the two countries.

On Kashmir, he repeated the official US stance that the dispute should be resolved and Washington would maintain that stance no matter.

In recent years, India and Pakistan themselves had made some progress in a very productive process, he said. The US encourages it to move forward, 'but we are not jumping on both feet and say hey guys we are here' to help.

On Pakistan, he said the US wants to see a smooth transition to democracy for the country's long-term stability and to aid the fight against terror, suggesting that an end to military rule would benefit both Pakistani and US interests.

Without commenting specifically on military President Pervez Musharraf's announcement that he would seek re-election Oct 6 while still serving as army chief, he said: "Long-term stability in Pakistan requires a return to democracy."