You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Afghanistan-Pak-India
India to take a joint stand on Iran nuke issue with Russia and China
2005-11-09
India is holding Foreign Minister level consultation with China and Russia to oppose refering Iran to security council. According to media reports, India's External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh on Monday [7 November] discussed with his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing the forthcoming IAEA meeting on the Iran nuclear issue and agreed to remain in touch and work for a consensus on the matter. The telephonic conversation comes a day after Singh said he would favour revision of India's vote on Iran nuclear programme at the 24 November meeting of IAEA Board of Governors in Geneva if a resolution stronger than the one placed last time was put forward.
Posted by:Seafarious

#6  AK, you're right. India is in an enviable position, being shown "the love" from all sides right now.

It's natural inclination is with the West, IMHO.
Posted by: Captain America   2005-11-09 13:44  

#5  India is one of the countries most up to grabs in the global geopolitical game of chess -- the one in which Russia, China, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Belarus Venezuela are on one side, and the United States, Japan, and most of Europe is on the other... India is one of the few countries in this position, and certainly the most important one...
Posted by: Aris Katsaris   2005-11-09 12:03  

#4  Natwar has the main qualification for the job - he is loyal to "the family" (the Nehru-Gandhi family).
He is tight with Sonia Gandhi and like several other retainers made minister, doesn't even consult with the PM. They report direct to the real power - Sonia.

He now appears to be the Congress bag man. The party itself recieved money in the Oil For Food scam, quite apart from the amount his family recieved.

The Indo-US deal was possible only because he was sent to Africa, leaving the PM free to act.
Posted by: john   2005-11-09 10:52  

#3  since when does England have prop rep? England is parliamentary, but has first past the post - its the continental states that have PR.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2005-11-09 09:51  

#2  Just curious, john, but how did he get the FM post, given his views? Was it a political accommodation of some sort? Or was his derangement well hidden until he was ousted?

I'm older than dirt and I'm still amazed by the inefficiency of the Parliamentary form of government - and I presume in India it's based on the proportional (slate) voting system, to boot, as Mother England's. Designed to fail, it seems. Certainly designed to stalemate on polarizing issues.
Posted by: Omolurong Spomble5401   2005-11-09 06:27  

#1  The Foreign Minister lost his job yesterday over the Oil for Food Scandal so this "joint stand" looks quite dead.
The Indian PM is now in charge of the Foreign Ministry and this probably means it will vote against Iran again.

The FM Natwar Singh (educated at Peking University btw) was rabid on his last day, trying to sabotage the PM's deal with the US and insulting the visiting Czech President by saying that the fall of the Soviet Union was the worst thing to happen in the 20th century.

Posted by: john   2005-11-09 06:14  

00:00