Iran to be India’s main theme at Bric summit

With the US threatening fresh action against its defiant president Ahmedinejad, Iran will figure prominently on the agenda at the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) Summit on April 16.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh will be talking to Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese president Hu Jintao and Brazil’s Luiz Lula da Silva on Iran and its economic crisis. He will also take up the West Asia crisis that is playing spoilsport to efforts of peace talks with Israel.

India has been caught in a bind on Iran issue. Discussing the issue of fresh sanctions with Hu and Medvedev will give India a chance to nuance its position on this delicate question and form an opinion keeping in mind China and Russia, two of Iran’s
friends.

India has long civilisational links with Tehran. Blips appeared after India voted twice against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and supported the US decision to drag Iran to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for refusing to abide by its commitment not to go ahead with its nuclear programme. The programme was suspected to be aimed at acquiring bomb making potential. By voting against Iran, India hoped to please the Bush administration, which was going out of its way to let India come out of its nuclear isolation.

New Delhi later went into a long-winded explanation on why it broke ranks with an old friend. As there is a sizeable Muslim population in India, the ruling Congress coalition feared it might lose votes in the 2009 election. Both Iran and India tried to repair the damage, but the cracks remain.

Now with fresh sanctions against Iran, New Delhi would be glad to talk to the BRIC members and try to get a sense of Russia and China’s stance.

Unlike Britain, France, Germany and other western democracies, which have sided openly with the US, BRIC is much more sympathetic in its approach to Iran. As members of the UNSC with veto rights, Russia and China have consistently bailed out Iran from harsher sanctions. Brazil too is now in the UNSC and will play a role at the UN on the Iran crisis.

The Obama administration has been pressing both Russia and China to allow fresh sanctions in the face of president Ahmedinejad’s refusal to stop enriching uranium and abide by the UN mandate. National security advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon will also be in Brasilia for a meeting on security of the BRIC representatives.