India walks along with UN on vote against Iran

For the third time in four years, India voted against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors meet in Vienna on Friday. The vote was taken on a resolution to halt Iran’s clandestine uranium enrichment site, which it had not declared to the UN’s nuclear watchdog.

India’s decision to vote with the US-sponsored censure resolution backed by China and Russia, and the UK, Germany and other members of the Western bloc, was not unexpected, considering that New Delhi has always maintained that while Iran has a right to peaceful use of nuclear power, it also has obligations since it is a signatory to the nuclear non proliferation treaty (NPT).

But the vote will come as a major stumbling block for the revival of India’s ties with the Persian power. Indo-Iranian relations reached a low point when New Delhi voted twice against Tehran at the IAEA and sided with Washington to drag Iran to the UN Security Council. Iran has not forgotten that and is not likely to forget the latest move. Iran’s foreign minister Manoncheher Mottaki was in New Delhi recently to repair ties affected by the previous votes. Hopes of improving political understanding between the two countries now appear dim.

India’s foreign ministry on Friday evening released a statement explaining why it went against Iran. The statement made it clear that India was for further dialogue with the country and not for a continuation of the current impasse, and was against further sanctions.

“We do not believe that the adoption of this resolution should divert the parties away from dialogue. This resolution cannot be the basis of a renewed punitive approach or new sanctions,” the statement read. “In fact, the coming weeks should be used by all concerned to expand the diplomatic space to satisfactorily address all outstanding issues. India firmly supports keeping the door open for dialogue and avoidance of confrontation.”
India also made a point about the right of all states to peaceful use of nuclear energy, consistent with their respective obligations.