India's anti-Iran votes were
coerced, says former US official
By Payvand
02/17/07 " -- New Delhi, Feb 17,
IRNA - A former ranking
official of the Bush administration has acknowledged
that India's votes against Iran at the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were 'coerced'.
According to Hindu, a New Delhi-based English daily,
Stephen G. Rademaker -- who quit his job as assistant
secretary for non- proliferation and International
Security at the US State Department last December, in a
talk here on 'Iran, North Korea and the future of the
NPT' at India's Institute for Defense Studies and
Analyses (IDSA)' said the July 2005 nuclear agreement
had helped bring about a big change in India's attitude
towards 'non-proliferation'.
"The best illustration of this is the two votes India
cast against Iran at the IAEA," he said, adding: "I am
the first person to admit that the votes were coerced."
A key role in the entire process was played by the
Congressional hearings on the nuclear deal, the former
State Department official noted.
"In the end, India did not vote the wrong way," he said.
And India's votes against Iran, in turn, 'paved the way
for the Congressional vote on the civilian nuclear
proposal last year'.
The former Bush administration official claimed Iran was
developing nuclear weapons and that the international
community was going to have to take tougher measures to
persuade Iran to change course.
"Whether there will be more UN sanctions or more
measures taken outside the UN context, we'll have to
see."
Russia, said Rademaker, was 'not fully cooperating' with
the US.
"If the UN Security Council acts against Iran, this
would make things easier for countries like India. But
if things go in the direction of increasing economic
pressure by a coalition of countries like the US, Europe
and Japan, India will have to make a choice," he said.
India would have to decide whether to join these
countries in the economic measures they took.
"It is India's prerogative to decide, but should it (not
join), it would be a big mistake and a lost
opportunity," he added.
As a 'first step' towards tightening the screws on Iran,
India should withdraw from the proposed
Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project, the former US
official argued.
'This would send a strong message to Iran, while not
hurting India's economic interests' because the pipeline
was unlikely to be economically viable, he claimed.
"I am not sure what kind of investor would put up money
for a pipeline running from Iran through Pakistan. What
happens if there is an incident in Kashmir?"
Walking away from the Iran, Pakistan and India (IPI)
pipeline project, said Rademaker, would, therefore, be
'a low cost way of India demonstrating its commitment to
non-proliferation'.
He clarified that the US did not consider the Iran
pipeline to be a 'litmus test' for India.
But scrapping the project 'would be a smart thing for
India to do'.
India, he stressed, 'needs to stop thinking of itself as
a Third World country... and start aligning itself with
the First World countries'.
Asked about the possibility of US military action
against Iran, Rademaker said, "I have never been a
proponent of military strikes against Iran because I am
not persuaded they would be effective." Rademaker joined
the State Department in 2002 as assistant secretary of
state for arms control and was put in charge of the
combined bureaus of arms control and non-proliferation
in 2005.
At the end of 2006, he quit the US government to take up
a job with Barbour Griffith & Rogers, the lobbying firm
whose clients include the Government of India.
During the time he served in the State Department,
Rademaker was involved in bilateral negotiations with
India on nuclear matters.
He also headed the US delegation to two meetings of the
Nuclear Suppliers Group held soon after the July 2005
Indo-US nuclear deal.
Though the civil nuclear bill had now cleared Congress,
said Rademaker, 'more is going to be required [of India]
because the problems of Iran and North Korea have not
been solved'.
The July 2005 Indo-US nuclear agreement had 'opened a
door for India to further its integration with the
industrialized world and it would be bad for India to
squander this opportunity', Rademaker said.
"So I hope India, for its own self-interest, decides to
participate in these measures)."
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