Posted on 01/31/2006 7:59:31 PM PST by Racehorse
Last October, Tehran linked its energy dialogue to India’s nuclear diplomacy asking New Delhi to “compensate (its) past default (voting against Iran) by supporting Iran in the next meeting of the IAEA board of governors in November.” That November meeting saw no vote and now Iran is back to flexing its energy muscle ahead of the crucial IAEA meeting this week.
After having signed a Sale Purchase Agreement (SPA) last June to export 5 million tonnes per annum of LNG to India at a price linked to $31-per barrel crude, the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) has now told India that the price agreed to in that pact is no longer valid.
(Excerpt) Read more at indianexpress.com ...
Could Iran's move have anything to do with this:
The Manmohan Singh Government on Tuesday positioned itself to vote against Iran in Thursday’s International Atomic Energy Agency meeting as its Left partners softened their opposition in the face of Russia and China closing ranks with the US, Britain and France to refer the Iranian nuclear programme to the United Nations Security Council.
Maby India will finally wake up and realise their stupid moves vis a vis Russia and China.
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Irannukes&slug=India+likely+to+vote+against+Iran&id=18672&callid=0&category=National
India likely to vote against Iran
NDTV Correspondent
Tuesday, January 31, 2006 (New Delhi):
India is likely to vote against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in Vienna on February 2.
This comes after Russia and China, which abstained from voting at the IAEA meeting in September 2005, changed their stand.
They are now supporting the US, France and the UK on reporting Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear programme.
Sources in the government have also told NDTV that while Russia and China have supported the west in principle, everything now depends on the wording of the draft resolution at the IAEA in Vienna.
Representatives of the permanent five member countries met at the home of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to discuss the issue.
But Russia and China have convinced the West that the UN will not take action for a month.
It is likely that both these countries may vote in favour of IAEA's action rather than abstain as they did in September.
Options at hand
But if Iran doesn't come around in that time, then the UN has various options.
The UN could give IAEA inspectors more powers to investigate Iranian nuclear activities. It could also consider imposing sanctions against Iran.
Meanwhile, the support of Russia and China means that it will be easier for India to vote with international opinion against Iran.
At the IAEA's September meeting, India had voted against Iran but made it clear that it should not be referred to the UNSC.
India also tried to push for a compromise formula by which Iran could undertake its uranium enrichment in Russia.
The formula fell through, since Iran restarted its uranium enrichment programme earlier in January and broke international seals at a plant in Natanz.
Iran has said any move to involve the UN Security Council in the row over its nuclear programme would mean the end of diplomacy.
Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has said informing the Security Council or referring the Iranian case to it will bring an end to diplomacy and that is not at all positive.
Left's stand
Meanwhile, the Iran issue has also stirred up political rumblings in New Delhi.
Twenty-four hours ago, the Left was in a very aggressive mood on Iran and wanted the government not to take a position against Iran.
But after the P5 resolution late on Monday night, the Left appears to have toned down its stand.
The Left had to shed its reservations after countries like Russia and China, which are ideologically close to the Left, agreed to refer Iran to the UN Security Council.
"The situation has changed. We just want the government to take a decision in national interest,'' said Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPI(M).
The Left's position came after the Prime Minister gave an assurance that any decision would be taken in the national interest and India will take a decision only after looking at the draft resolution of the member countries of the UNSC.
In Islam contracts with infidels can easily be broken for any ole reason or none at all.
Just like Saddam, bargaining for UN votes with money.
India was just visited by Saudi King Abdullah.
BTW, I think the king dyes that beard of his.
You are paranoid. India will never ally with China. China IS India's main strategic threat.
Only places where Indian and Chinese interests meet are during biddings for oil-fields, where combined bids reduce the overall costs for both countries, for badly needed energy supplies.
At this rate, it is not going to be a question of if someone deals with the mullahs, but who is going to take them down.
Blackmail Diplomacy™
Post hoc, etc.
The Iranian move came BEFORE the Indian vote...
It looks like Iran is in a full press to anger everybody these days...
When signed contracts are ignored they will soon find that no one will conduct business with them for fear they won't honor their contractual obligations.
They obviously think they're in a position to extort the rest of the world to their demands due to our need for oil.
Lets prove them wrong - hard.
China is not India's main strategic threat. Pakistan is.
And what moves are these?
Nope. China is. Has always been. Militarily.
Nope....it has alays been China (since the mid 1960s).
Russia will backstab India if need be.
The world needs to move beyond this middle east oil enslavement. Its getting old ..fast..
Of course Russia CAN backstab India. So can India, one of its largest military equipment purchaser. And Russia needs its income from selling weapons critically.
At the end of the day, it is all about balancing interests. Russia is not too happy with a powerful China in its backyard.
:-)
What I'm implying by posting the two articles is the move is meant to intimidate the Indians in advance of the 2 February IAEA meeting in Vienna. Does not do much good to attempt intimidation AFTER the meeting. That's called something else.
And what I'm also wondering is how much of it Iran means as a warning to the West
enlightening .... looks like the smelly ayatollahs are liars when it comes to contracts. I'll bet they haven't messed with China this way because China will supply them with weaponry and nuke technology.
Yes. Iran signed long term contacts with China also
Umm,If China was not a threat to India,Pakistan would never have been a problem for India.The PRC is Pakistan's largest arms supplier & has been for the past 40 years.Whenever India & Pakistan have been on the brink of war,atleast 25% of the Indian army & 30% of the AF has been on the Eastern Borders.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.