Iran ships in India: 'Limited event, overwritten'

As a senior lawmaker warned that India's alleged training of Iranian Navy will adversely affect Congressional support to the Indo-US nuclear deal, the US has said its presence at Indian ports was a 'limited type of event' that was 'overwritten.'

"We looked into those, and our understanding is that there were two ships visiting with naval cadets from Iran into Indian ports. They were not training programmes. That is a much more limited type of event, and does not suggest Indian training or Indian contribution to Iranian military capabilities," State Department Acting Spokesman Adam Ereli on Monday.

"I think those reports were overwritten," he added.         

Ereli's comments came days after Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the powerful House International Relations Committee told visiting Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran that India's alleged training of Iranian troops could undermine Congressional support for the nuclear deal. But India denied training Iranian soldiers, saying it was just a normal diplomatic call on Kochi port by two Iranian navy ships.

Ereli said Iranian naval vessels also visit a number of nations friendly to the United States, besides India.

He said the ship visits would not call into question India's commitment to non-proliferation and brushed aside the notion that the issue was awkward as it surfaced at a time when the administration was trying to push through the civilian nuclear pact in Congress.