Posted on 01/26/2006 12:30:50 AM PST by Gengis Khan
WASHINGTON: In a damage control exercise, the US on Thursday said its Ambassador David C Mulford's comments that there would be a "devastating" effect on the Indo-US nuclear deal if India does not vote against Iran at the IAEA, reflected the "very strong held feelings" in Congress but a final decision on the issue would be taken by New Delhi.
"...We deal with the Indian government on these two issues as separate issues. Certainly they come up in conversations", State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters at a briefing.
In an interview Mulford had said that if India did not vote againt Tehran's nuclear programme at the IAEA, the fallout on the civilian nuclear deal would be "devastating" and the initiative will "die".
"Let me be clear.Ultimately how India votes on this matter (on Iran) is going to be a decision for the Indian government.They voted to find Iran in non-compliance that last time around," McCormack said.
"But I think what the Ambassador was doing was talking about and reflecting the view on Capitol Hill there are very strongly held feelings about Iran and the need for the international community to act decisively and firmly and with a single voice concerning Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon", he said.
The spokesman argued that given the three separate branches of government in the US, Ambassador Mulford was "expressing an opinion" about how Congress might react. And the view of the Executive Branch is that "we would certainly encourage and we would hope that India would vote for a referral to the Security Council", he said.
The Spokesman said "we continue to encourage the Indian Government to vote for referral. Ultimately that is going to be their decision. And we have also been talking to them about the importance of making progress on their implementation plan for separating the civilian and military nuclear programmes".
Asked what would happen to the civilian nuclear accord if India did not vote for referring Iran to the Security Council, McCormack said the administration would continue to work with the government of India on the implementation of the agreement with the hope that progress could be made on the issue in time for the President George W Bush's visit to India this March.
"Part of making progress on this issue is for the Indian government to present a workable plan that would separate the Indian civilian and military nuclear programmes. We're still talking about that issue with the Indian government and I expect those discussions will continue", the Spokesman said.
This is a mischaracterization in my opinion. U.S.-India relations manifest through a great number of issues. The Iran problem and energy deals between the U.S. and India are converging now and Mulford's comments are an accurate representation of Washington's sentiments on these two issues. The fact that his expression of this opinion has become fuel for the Indian left should come as no surprise. Recent history suggests that the Indian left would grab anything to burn down U.S.-India relations. I believe the Indian left’s argument, at its core, is irrational. They have associated their cause with that of the Iranian government, one of the most irrational governing bodies on our planet. That's sad...
Current US posture on pipelines and oil trades is stupid.
We have no beef with any of the people involved. In fact, we want them to succeed.
Let the pipelines go through.
Then, change the regime in Iran.
The last thing the US has to worry about is the left parties as far as India is concered. They have the media overreach but they dont have the public mandate. What matters is what the Congress party and the Hindu right wing BJP think. The Congress and BJP make up almost 80% of the electoral seats. The Congress party after years of anti-Americanism finally dumped the baggage like a lot of other baggage it has dumped over the last ten years. Forging an alliance with US and voting against Iran the last time was solely Congress initiative.
So far the Hindu right-wing BJP has kept a measured silence on the Iran issue, not voicing their opinion for or against Iran. They however had some reservations on the nuclear deal. But today the BJP lashed out against the US and for the first time since the Indo-US row over Iranian nuclear issue.
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=86706
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/E0AC5192C9825EBF6525710400506602?OpenDocument
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=96077
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=232667&cat=India
And it was none other than the former Indian Prime minister lashing out against the US. No wonder the US is distancing itself from Mulford's comments. The left may not matter but the BJP does matter. They may not be in power but they carry considerable weight. If both the left and BJP goes against the US, the Congress may not be able to go against Iran. Its a very stupid and ill advised remark comming from the Ambassador not to mention bad timing since President Bush will be comming to India in Feb. The Indian government may eventually vote in favour of the US as it has done before but the Congress party would not want to be seen bending over backwards in public to please the US. Sadly Condoleeza Rice and Ambassador Mulford have made it very difficult for the Congress government.
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