Sum of half chances

The offer by the US to join the other great powers in direct nuclear talks with Iran opens a route out of the stalemate. India has rightly welcomed the development. New Delhi should now support the package of incentives that have been worked out by the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany for a comprehensive engagement with Iran that goes beyond the nuclear dispute. Under the new proposals, the Security Council will stop further action against Iran if it agrees to suspend its weapons related activity 8212; especially the uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing. The incentives offered by the new grouping, P-5 plus one, include the potential lifting of a variety of sanctions currently in place against Iran and security guarantees for Tehran.

With his defiant reaction, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, it is hoped, is only playing to the domestic gallery. Tehran has every right to be pleased at its success in forcing Washington into direct talks for the first time in 27 years. Tehran, however, could over-reach if it interprets the international demand for suspension of its questionable nuclear activities as a 8220;pre-condition8221; and rejects talks. It has a rare opportunity now to end its nuclear dispute with the international community and normalise relations with the US. While the threat of sanctions, in the event of Iranian rejection, is implicit in the Bush administration8217;s rhetoric, the major powers have sensibly desisted from holding out any threat in their collective offer to negotiate with Iran.

In this new phase, India will have to move beyond a mere rhetorical support to a 8220;peaceful resolution8221; and calls for 8220;flexibility8221; from all sides. India has often allowed crass domestic political concerns to shape its responses to the Iranian crisis. Instead, its future responses should be guided by its fundamental opposition to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and a strong support to the long overdue reconciliation between Tehran and Washington. If it develops an active and strategic response to the latest Iranian developments, India would be in a position to claim a place along with the P-5 and Germany in resolving an important threat to global peace and security. As a rising and responsible nuclear power, India should be seeking a role in managing international challenges. Being a part of a sack of potatoes called the non-aligned movement is no great virtue.