Even as the US stepped up lobbying for using economic sanctions against Iran, India on Saturday said the time was not ripe for such extreme measures and reiterated the need for stepping up dialogue to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue.
"Our position is (that) whatever problems have arisen, they can be resolved through the pursuit of dialogue and discussion. I do not believe the time has come to discuss the issue in those terms," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters on his way to Hanover, the first leg of his four-day visit to Germany.
In the same breath, he said that despite the Iranian nuclear controversy, discussions are on course on the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline.
"We need that gas. And it is in the interests of all the three countries to see that this project goes on," he said.
The Iranian nuclear issue will come up for discussions between Manmohan Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hanover Sunday, official sources said.