Times of India, January 25, 2006
India should vote against Iran or Nuke deal will 'die': US
NEW DELHI: Just a week ahead of the IAEA meeting on Iran issue, the US on Wednesday made it clear if India did not vote against Tehran's nuclear programme, the fallout on the Indo-US nuclear deal in the Congress would be "devastating" and the initiative will "die".
Washington also feels that the ideas put forth by India on separation of its civilian and military nuclear establishments had not met the "test of credibility" and the negotiations process need to be completed before President George W Bush's visit here in March failing which the "historic opportunity" would be "much less practical".
"We have made it known to them (India) that we would very much like India's support because India has arrived on the world stage and is a very very important player in the world," US Ambassador to India David C Mulford said in a wide-ranging interview.
"If it (India) opposes Iran having nuclear weapons, we think they should record it in the vote," he said.
Mulford's observations come amid intensified efforts by the US and the EU-3 (Britain, France and Germany) to seek world support for the resolution to be placed at the February two of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting for referring Iran's nuclear issue to the UN Security Council for action.
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