New Delhi
6 February 2006
Voicing their opinion about the "merits" and "implications" of the civil
nuclear cooperation agreement between India and the United States, eight former Indian
ambassadors fear the "price [India] will be asked to pay to ensure that US Congressional
ratification will be too high".
In a joint statement, the former envoys say, "An added anxiety is the not so very
encouraging past record of the US in ahering to agreements; modifications and
withdrawals from bilateral/multilateral acords driven by shifts and reversals is US
doctrine and policy are not unknown."
Suggesting that "sanctions against Iran and punitive actions in the event of non-
compliance are very likely to follow," they want to know how far would India wish to go in
terms of applying pressure on Iran to prevent it. "US policy does include the use of force
to achieve this; but would India be ready to join the US all the way?" they ask.
Criticising some commentators who say US is the obvious choice if it comes to choosing
between the US and Iran, they wonder why India should be forced to get into this difficult
dilemma of choosing.
Observing that the "comprehensive statement" promised by the government has not
come about despite the passage of two sessions of Parliament and no standing
committee of Parliament has had an opportunity to consider the matter, the diplomats
say the government "should put aside its present policy of reticence and share with the
people of India all that it is legitimately entitled to know."
The signatories are AP Venkateswaran, former foreign secretary; CV Ranganathan,
former ambassador to China and France; AM Khaleeli, former ambassador to Iran and
Italy; CB Muthamma, former ambassador to Hungary and the Netherlands; N Krishnan,
fofmer permanent representative to the United Nations; A Madhavan, former ambassador
to Japan and Germany; PL Sinai, former ambassador to Austria and Representative to
the IAEA; and PA Nazareth, former ambassador to Egypt and Mexico.
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