India welcomes Iranian nuclear deal; might revive long-pending gas pipelines

New Delhi: India welcomed Iran's historic nuclear deal, on Tuesday, with six global powers which will lead to lifting of sanctions against the Gulf country having world's third-largest oil and gas reserves, in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. The deal will lead to an increase in oil exports from the West Asian nation to India.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India has always maintained the nuclear issue should be

resolved peacefully through dialogue, terming the deal a "welcome development".

"While we wait to see the text of the agreement reached between Iran and the EU 3+3 in Vienna today, we welcome the

successful conclusion of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue", said Vikas Swarup on Tuesday.

The deal will lead to an increase in oil exports from the West Asian nation to India, and may revive the long-pending gas pipeline projects involving the two countries, industry body Ficci said on Tuesday. "We will, in time, see an increase in exports of Iranian crude oil to India and the world and India-Iran trade scaling newer heights. This nuclear agreement also has the potential to revive the long-pending gas pipeline projects from Iran to India," Ficci President Jyotsna Suri said.

The deal, finalised between Iran and six global powers -the US, China, Russia, France, the UK and Germany - is seen as a major landmark as it will help Iran its economic recovery and attract investment into its oil and gas sector.

"India has always maintained that the issue should be resolved peacefully through dialogue by respecting Iran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy while upholding the international community's strong interest in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme," the spokesperson said.

He said the International Atomic Energy Agency has an important role, which has been underlined by the agreement

between Iran and the agency on a road map for the clarification of past and present outstanding issues. "This too is a welcome development," said Swarup.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had an "excellent" meeting recently on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Ufa where issues of energy cooperation and connectivity were discussed.