No precondition for talks with Iran, says Trump
Washington: US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that there is no precondition for talks with Iran except that he would not allow it to acquire nuclear weapons.
Trump, after coming to power, has withdrawn from the Iranian nuclear deal and imposed sanctions on Tehran, which requires countries like India to stop purchasing oil from Iran.
"Not as far as I'm concerned. No preconditions," Trump told NBC's 'Meet the Press' when asked if he has any preconditions for talks with Iran.
"You'll talk anywhere?" asked Chuck Todd during the interview.
"Here it is. Look, you can't have nuclear weapons. And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come," Trump said.
The President said that he is surrounded by two groups of people hawks and doves.
"I have some hawks. Yeah, (National Security Advisor) John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him he'd take on the whole world at one time, okay? But that doesn't matter because I want both sides... I was against going into Iraq for years and years.
"And before it ever happened I was against going into Iraq. And some people said, 'Oh I don't know'. I was totally against and I was a private citizen. It never made sense to me. I was against going into the Middle East. We've spent USD 7 trillion in the Middle East right now," Trump said.
He said the US was on the verge of attacking Iran in retaliation of them allegedly shooting an unmanned drones in the Middle East. But he withdrew his permission half an hour before.
"They came and they said, 'Sir, we're ready to go. We'd like a decision'. I said, 'I want to know something before you go. How many people will be killed, in this case Iranians? They said 'Sir, approximately 150'. And I thought about it for a second and said, 'You know what? They shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it. And here we are sitting with 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after I said go ahead'. And I didn't think it was proportionate," Trump said.
The US has already imposed massive sanctions on Iran.
"We're increasing the sanctions now. But the response is always going to be very strong. I built up a lot of capital. I've had a lot of people that aren't Trump fans saying, 'I can't believe'. You know, a lot of them said, 'We're going to be in World War III the first week'. Didn't work out that way. We're doing great in North Korea. We're doing great in a lot of different places. We knocked out the caliphate in Syria. We knocked out 100 per cent," Trump claimed.
He said that he was ready to negotiate with the Iranians.
"I think they want to negotiate. And I think they want to make a deal. And my deal is clear. Look, they're not going to have a nuclear weapon," he said.
"This isn't about the Straits. Do you know that China gets 91 per cent of its oil from the straits? We don't even need the straits. We have, we are now, because of -- since I came in, we're the number one energy producer in the world. Actually by far.
"And if I get the pipelines approved through the environmental process, which I will in Texas, we'll go up by another 25 per cent. But we're way ahead of Russia, we're way ahead of Saudi Arabia. And I think that they want to negotiate. I don't think they like the position they're in. Their economy absolutely broken," the President said.
Trump refuted reports that he ever sent a letter to the Iranian leaders.
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German Chancellor's visit to Bengaluru was private, pre-scheduled; BJP 'politicising' it: Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister M B Patil on Wednesday defended Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, saying they did not receive German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during his visit here as it was a private, pre-scheduled programme.
Patil accused the opposition BJP of "politicising" the visit of an international dignitary and termed it "irresponsible."
Merz visited Bengaluru on Tuesday, the second day of his two-day visit to India. He was received at the Kempegowda International Airport by Patil and senior state officials.
The opposition BJP, taking a dig at Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, alleged that they skipped receiving the German chancellor and instead chose to be in Mysuru to receive Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was transiting to neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
“The Hon’ble German Federal Chancellor’s visit was entirely a private, pre-scheduled programme, limited to visits to Bosch and IISc, with no official talks with the state government,” Patil said in a post on 'X'.
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“In such a situation, the question of the CM or ministers formally receiving him does not arise. Had there been any government-level engagements, the Hon’ble chief minister himself would have led the reception,” he said.
Patil said that, as instructed by Siddaramaiah and in keeping with protocol, a formal welcome and see-off were extended.
“The BJP’s attempt to politicise even a private visit of an international dignitary is petty and irresponsible,” he claimed.
Accusing the Congress government of “misplaced priorities and missed opportunities”, Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly R Ashoka earlier said that welcoming the head of government from one of the world’s strongest economies had been relegated to the back seat, while “political loyalty and high command pleasing” were given precedence over Karnataka’s global standing.
During his visit, Merz toured the India headquarters of German technology major Bosch at Adugodi and the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at the Indian Institute of Science, before departing from Bengaluru.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said the state government was not invited to any of the events attended by the German chancellor and added that it appeared he had arrived and departed without official state-level engagement.
“Patil went as minister-in-waiting, but the state government was not invited to any of the events he attended. He held a press conference, and the German delegation brought its own press. Even the local press was not invited,” Parameshwara said.
“In a way, he came and left without the state’s involvement. Such situations should not arise. We also want to show our respect to foreign dignitaries who visit our state,” he added.
Parameshwara said the state government would have acted in accordance with directions from the Ministry of External Affairs and added that when a foreign head of government visits a state, the state government should be given an opportunity to extend its respects.
Referring to India’s federal structure, he said that while practices may differ elsewhere, both the Centre and states have defined roles in India, and the state government should be involved when a foreign head of government visits.
When asked whether the Centre had officially informed the state government about the visit, Parameshwara said he was not aware and that there was a need to ascertain what directions were issued.
