I do not wish to push the case of India voting against Iran at the IAEA, neither do I justify the American insistence on India’s vote, but there are certain facts waiting to be set straight. The truth is that in our hours of crisis, Iran never supported us. Iran sided with Pakistan and also supplied arms and ammunition to our neighbour in the 1965 and 1971 wars. Even on Kashmir, Pakistan has been the beneficiary of Iran’s vote at the OIC. The irony is, when we conducted our nuclear tests in 1998, Iran didn’t support us. Unfortunately, Iran didn’t even condemn the attack on Parliament in December 2001.On the other hand, Iraq is one country which had always supported India. I remember when Rajiv Gandhi’s entourage, of which I was a member, was stranded in Tehran while on way to Baghdad during the First Gulf War. Baghdad at that time was being heavily bombed by US forces. For two days, Rajiv Gandhi kept waiting for an audience with the Iranian president. Iran then was not happy about Rajiv’s support for Saddam’s regime. The situation has come full circle. While relations between Iran and India continue on a separate path, what is more than welcome is a paradigm shift in India’s relations with the US.The fact remains that India is committed to building a gas pipeline in cooperation with Iran and Pakistan despite American insistence against it. The vote at the IAEA was essentially only to ask Iran to subject its nuclear programme to IAEA safeguards. But the real breakthrough is the India-US civilian nuclear deal that has the potential to permanently rid us of our perennial energy problems. Nobody in his right mind can deny the significance of this deal to our nation’s economy.Who’s red-faced?The Left’s protests against US President George W. Bush surprise nobody, for they are traditional US-baiters with decades of anti-capitalism and anti-US ideology behind them. What surprised everybody was the brazen opportunism evident in the banner of protests unfolded by Samajwadi Party in Parliament on the first day of Bush’s visit. It shows how low the politics of votebank can go. The SP has, after all, openly taken delegations to the US and solicited US investment in UP. This is the same party which only a few months ago rolled out the red carpet for former US President Bill Clinton in Lucknow, with pink champagne flowing at a lavish banquet hosted by Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Another warm reception was hosted for the Israeli ambassador by the Chief Minister recently. Interestingly, there are many Samajwadi Party MPs and MLAs with multiple financial interests in the US. That is why everyone was flabbergasted to see Samajwadi MPs wearing red caps and stalling both Houses of Parliament.I believe none of my comrade friends realised that precisely when Yadav was busy shouting anti-Bush slogans alongside them in Delhi, Laura Bush was receiving a warm welcome by the UP government in Noida. Not a whimper of protest by ruling SP members was evident during her visit. What is more, one of the more vocal members of the shouting brigade opposing Bush was later seen attending a lunch in Bush’s honour.Animal instinctWhile the shock and outrage over dogs sniffing around Mahatma Gandhi’s Samadhi at Raj Ghat ahead of President Bush’s visit is understandable, this is not the first time a dog squad has performed the security drill. Senior Delhi Police officials say that it is a usual practice for dogs to inspect the Raj Ghat precincts for any hidden explosives ahead of visits by all heads of state. A similar exercise was in order during French President Jacques Chirac’s visit only days ago, and also when Clinton came in 2000. However, I would appreciate it if the government took a decision keeping people’s sensibilities in mind and ensured that dogs were kept out of a place considered highly sacred by our countrymen.Rajeev Shukla is a Congress MP in Rajya Sabha
