Reuters, NEW DELHI – The United States said on Wednesday a nuclear cooperation deal with India may stall unless New Delhi votes against Iran next month at the U.N. nuclear energy watchdog.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meets on February 2 to discuss whether to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council over a nuclear program the West says is aimed at developing weapons, which Tehran denies.
The U.S. ambassador to India, David Mulford, told the Press Trust of India news agency that if India decided not to vote against Iran, "the effect on members of the U.S. Congress with regard to the civil nuclear initiative will be devastating."
The agency quoted Mulford as saying the deal would "die," but the government said it would vote based on its "own independent judgment."
U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Wednesday the IAEA was unlikely to decide at that meeting what to do about Iran.
U.S. President George Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed in July an accord on civil nuclear energy that would reverse a nearly 30-year-old ban on atomic cooperation with New Delhi, which has tested nuclear arms.
The deal has yet to be fully worked out, especially the key requirement of a separation plan for India’s civil and military nuclear facilities, and must then pass a final test in the U.S. Congress and be agreed by the 44-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.
India surprised its historic ally Iran in September by siding with the West when the IAEA declared Iran had failed to comply with its international obligations.
Its role at next week’s IAEA meeting is being keenly watched.
"The position India will take on this issue at the IAEA will be based on India’s own independent judgment," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"We categorically reject any attempt to link this to the proposed India-U.S. agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation."
The first sign of trouble with the deal came last week when after talks with Indian officials U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said there were "difficulties" in finalizing it but that he remained hopeful.
The two sides were hoping to finish the pact before Bush visits the subcontinent in March.
