I'ts always awkward when a diplomat accidently speaks the truth.
The truth is that the India deal, which *we should* support, is in trouble because of distruct in Congress (from Kerry and other boneheads, but also on Republican side).
Iran is screaming double-standards because we let India become a nuclear power without sanctions, but not Iran.
Yes, there is a double standard> The world's largest democracy is much less of a threat than the the world's worst mullah-ocratic dictatorship.
Why is speculating such a bad thing to do? If you take your best guess about any given “future” and you lay that guess out for the world to see, why is that considered a threat? We were gifted with big brains that help us predict the future with acceptable margins of error. There are scenarios Indians and Americans can imagine that are not pleasant and it is those scenarios we can avoid if we work together and consider each possibility carefully. I have to admit, I’m very disappointed, not in Mulford or India but International relations in general. How are we, the citizens of the free world, supposed to build peaceful and prosperous communities if an ambassador speculating about the future sends officials scurrying about, muttering to their constituents, “We will act in our interests!… Our interests can’t possibly be their interests!…
Interests aren’t like marbles on the playground during recess! Interests are intangible concepts that often overlap. We all live under the same sky therefore our futures are inseparable. Our collective interests are the bricks and mortar of our shared future. Let’s act in all of OUR interests. The sustainability of democracy depends on it.