MADRAS, India -- India needs natural gas from Iran and nuclear technology from America. New Delhi chose to give priority to the latter, and went along with the European resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency asking Tehran to comply with its nuclear obligations. Iran has been asked to sort out its nuclear problems with the IAEA, so for the time being, the issue will not be raised in the United Nations Security Council.
But India's decision has been lambasted by some in the media. The Hindu editorialized: The decision to vote against Iran at the crucial meeting of the Board of Governors of the IAEA is evidence of the Singh government's shameful willingness to abandon the independence of Indian foreign policy for the sake of strengthening its strategic partnership with the United States. The Bush administration had agreed to cooperate with India on its civilian nuclear needs.
Bharatiya Janata Party, one of India's major parties and now in the opposition, has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the reason for this turnabout in foreign policy. For decades, New Delhi had been supportive of Islamic nations, primarily because of its own very large Muslim population.