German Chancellor Angela Merkel used the occasion of being awarded the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan to ask Iran to remove doubts about its nuclear programme.
She noted that Germany and India had joined hands at the United Nations security council in trying to make Iran see the error of its approach and to “influence (Iran) in such a way that it has a change of heart”.
She went on to note that “we need to keep a close eye on nuclear proliferation(,) we need to see to it that we prevent this (nuclear proliferation) from spreading. Iran is a particularly a topical case”. Ms Merkel’s remarks came on the day when her aircraft was briefly refused permission to fly over Iranian airspace en route to India.
She declared she would use the `1-crore award to set up a scholarship for Indian students in the field of German language and European law.