'Very accurately' examining arrest of Indian spy in Pakistan, says Iran
Tehran: Iran on Thursday said it was examining "very accurately" the issue of arrest of an ex-Indian Navy officer by Pakistan on charges of planning "subversive activities" in Balochistan after allegedly entering the country through Iran.
Iranian envoy Gholamreza Ansari, in an interaction with the media, also ruled out any possibility of the Iran-Pakistan -India gas pipeline project taking off, saying "we should forget about it".
When asked about Kulbhushan Jadhav's arrest, he said, "First of all we are trying to complete our own information about the case. And I don't think I am in a position now to say any word about that. But definitely we are looking into this issue very accurately."
Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested last month by Pakistan, which described him as an officer of the Indian Navy, a claim debunked by the Indian government. India said he had no link with the government since premature retirement from the Navy.
Official sources had said that Mr Jadhav owned a small ship and used to carry cargo from Bandar Abbas and Chabahar ports in Iran and other adjoining areas to various locations.
Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's possible visit to Iran, the Iranian envoy did not give any timeline but said talks on it are on. "The sooner the Prime Minister visits Iran the better it will be," he said.
The Iranian Ambassador pitched for deeper bilateral cooperation between India and Iran in a range of areas, saying Indo-Iran ties were was becoming increasingly important in the regional as well as international stage.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had paid a two-day visit to Iran last week during which both sides had decided to step up engagement in oil some other sectors.
On the IPI project, Ansari said those who have invested in the LNG (liquified petroleum gas) projects in India will not allow the pipeline venture among India, Iran and Pakistan to take off.
"People who have invested in LNG in India, I don't think they will let any pipes to come in. Americans are looking for the Indian market for the future and any sort of pipeline will put and end to these investments. So I don't think pipeline can be a serious project. I am sure Americans will not let this project go ahead," he said.
India has been boycotting formal talks on the project since 2007 over security concerns as the pipelines would have to pass through Pakistan.
Asked about terror from Pakistani soil targeting Iran, he said it was a challenge and the two countries were trying to cooperate to deal with the scourge.
"This is something that happens...We are trying to cooperate and talk to the Pakistanis on how we can stop this sort of difficulties on our border...We are trying to encourage Pakistanis to reciprocate these efforts to stop this sort of activities," he said.
