NEW DELHI, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari has paid a one-day visit to New Delhi to explain his country's controversial nuclear program.
A secondary topic of discussion was the Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline project.
India's Financial Express newspaper reported that Safari's visit followed in the wake of Indian statements that New Delhi's bilateral ties with Iran are intact despite India's vote against Iran's nuclear program at the International Atomic Energy Agency meetings.
Safari met with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan.
Additional details were not immediately available.
India maintains that while Iran has the right to develop civilian nuclear energy, it nonetheless has certain obligations to fulfill as a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iran, which has steadfastly refused to stop nuclear fuel enrichment, faces the prospect of international sanctions, either imposed by the U.N. Security Council or by a coalition of nations led by the United States.
Washington believes Iran's nuclear programs, with some facilities developed surreptitiously, is a cover for development of nuclear weapons.
India, a nuclear power and not an NPT signatory, has entered into nuclear cooperation with the United States.
