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India a different proposition: Blair

Hasan Suroor

Tony Blair

LONDON : Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday rejected attempts to draw parallels between India and Iran over the nuclear issue, and said that India was a "`very, very different proposition.''

His remarks came while replying to a question in the House of Commons suggesting that the West was pursuing double standard in pressuring Iran to give up its nuclear programme while India was being offered help by the U.S. with its civilian nuclear programme despite New Delhi's refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Strongly disagreeing with the MP who had asked the question, Mr. Blair said Britain supported the India-US agreement. "India is a very, very different proposition from Iran.''

To another question, Mr. Blair insisted that there were no plans to attack Iran but warned Teheran that it must "desist'' from going ahead with its controversial nuclear programme.

"Nobody is talking about a military invasion against Iran or military action against Iran. We are taking diplomatic action through the U.N. Security Council," he said, when asked by the Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell whether he agreed with the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that military action was inconceivable.

Mr. Blair defended the U.S. position that all options, including a military intervention, were on the table.

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