While a peeved Iran has hinted at reviewing its energy cooperation with India following the vote at the IAEA, news of growing support for New Delhi’s decision from North America should boost the Government’s comfort level.The endorsement of the Indian decision has not only come from the Bush Administration and leading US Congressmen but also Canada that had been so hostile to India on nuclear issues ever since New Delhi conducted its first test in 1974.The reaction from Iran was not unexpected. Having put enormous pressure on New Delhi to support it in the days before the IAEA voting, Iran today went public by expressing surprise at India’s decision.‘‘India’s vote came as a great surprise to us,’’ an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said. ‘‘We will reconsider our economic cooperation with those countries that voted against us,’’ he added.Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the Canadian decision to renew civil nuclear energy cooperation appears to have gone way beyond the Indian expectations on the eve of External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh’s visit to Ottawa.Canadian Foreign minister Pierre Pettigrew openly declared that India’s vote in Iran has helped shape the decision on reviving nuclear cooperation with India.Iran has been an important energy partner for India selling oil as well as natural gas. Last June, Iran signed a $22bn liquefied natural gas deal with India, under which a consortium will purchase 5m tonnes of LNG a year for 25 years from 2010. India has also been seeking to pipe gas overland from Iran in a $7bn project that will come through Pakistan.At this stage, Iran’s threat is a veiled one; it appears aimed at shaping India’s divisive domestic debate rather than defining an inimical approach to New Delhi.After all, Iran’s troubles at the IAEA are not yet over and its compliance with non-proliferation obligations would come up again at the next meeting of the board of governors in November.Iranian hostility with India at this stage might only ensure that Delhi will vote next time with the US and Europe, irrespective of the nature of the resolution.Iran may not be in a position to risk that outcome. Nor does it have too many credible options on denying export of energy to one of the world’s largest consumers, India.Despite the bluster from Tehran, India has time to assess the balance sheet on outcomes from its IAEA decision until November, when the Iran issue comes to a head.After sending credible signals on its responsible nuclear policy, India expects a faster pace of action in the Nuclear Suppliers Group as well as the US Congress in revising their nuclear rules in favour of India.The NSG will convene in October to consider the US move, backed by France, to relax the rules on nuclear energy cooperation with India. Canadian support, in that context, is considered extremely valuable since that could help persuade other sceptics in the NSG, especially the Scandinavian countries.India briefs IranNEW DELHI: India today briefed Iran on why it voted in favour of the EU-3 resolution on the Iranian nuclear programme at the IAEA while stressing that it had no problems on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.This was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran to Iranian Ambassador here S Z Yaghoubi. The latter expressed disappointment over the Indian decision. An Iranian Embassy spokesperson said Yaghoubi told Saran that the decision was ‘‘not logical’’ and was approved due to ‘‘some pressure’’. — ENS
