IAEA vote: Iran sends letter,India defends

Around the time when two ministers from Iran came visiting India to boost ties earlier this month,External Affairs Minister S M Krishna got a letter from his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki....

Around the time when two ministers from Iran came visiting India to boost ties earlier this month,External Affairs Minister S M Krishna got a letter from his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki,who expressed disappointment over India voting in favour of a recent resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog against Tehrans nuclear programme.

In his letter,Mottaki said that it was unexpected from a friend like India,with whom Iran shares deep historic ties. In an effort to justify their nuclear programme,it is learnt that Mottaki tried to draw a parallel between Irans nuclear programme and India nuclear tests. Krishna,sources said,responded to Mottakis missive,explaining how Indias case is different and that its non-proliferation record is free from blemishes. New Delhi has always kept its commitment towards UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),the response is said to have conveyed.

Sources said neither the Indian Prime Minister nor the External Affairs Minister received any call or message from the western countries,including the US,for a yes-vote at the IAEA. The conversation was restricted only at the floor level at the IAEA between the permanent representatives of various countries.

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Though the exchange between the two foreign ministers reflect the tough positions taken by the two countries on the issue,New Delhi believes that this will not cast a shadow on the bilateral relations.

Mottakis letter expressing disappointment,sources believe,is an outcome of what is seen by his rivals in Tehran as a personal setback for him. He had visited India barely 10 days before the vote in November.

What has given New Delhi some confidence about the fact that the IAEA vote will not affect the India-Iran relations are the visits by Irans Deputy Minister (Judiciary) M Kohi and Deputy Minister (Oil Exploration) Seifullah Jashnsaz in December. Sources said some more visits from Tehran are to follow in the coming months.

Also,according to New Delhi,there is a growing realisation in Tehran about the inevitability of the vote at the IAEA since there was a huge majority which voted against Iran on the construction of its uranium enrichment plant.

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The resolution,which rebuked Iran for covertly building a second uranium enrichment plant,was passed by a 25-3 vote,with six abstentions.

Indias vote,New Delhi feels,was not decisive in the overall vote and Tehran realises this.

India too did not waste time after the IAEA vote. National Security Advisor M K Narayanan met Mottaki in Manama (Yemen) in mid-December on the sidelines of a conference.