Reiterating friendship with Iran

Iran has been a long time and very good friend of India. With the US coming closer to us since the onset of economic reforms worldwide and Atal Behari Vajpayee- led government was installed in 1998, our foreign policy got leaned towads it even at the cost of our friend.The US is hell bent to impose sanctions against Iran for frivolous charges of amassing nuclear weapons. The Manmohan Singh-led UPA government in its first stint blindly supported US discriminatory foreign policies. But in its second stint, the External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is in Tehran on Iran visit, openy opposed US intention of imposing sanctions against Iran by charging falsely that it is proliferating nuclear weapons stealthily. But the ground story is altogether different. The US wants to punish Iran only because it does not support its highhandedness in other countries. Iran is a sovereign country and it has every right to do under international, law, norms and decorum what it likes. It must not be punished only because the sole superpower of the world US does not like its action. Manmohan Singh UPA Govt in its second innings has adopted its own established foreign policies that are governed only by the interest of the nations and its old friends and well wishers. India is a sovereign country and the largest democracy of the world. It does not beieve in ganging with super power against the small and weak nations. It has also always stood up for the protection of sovereignty of independent nations. The growing policy rift between India and the US on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear enrichment plans has now come out in the open, disagreeing with the American position to welcome Tehran’s decision to send its low enriched uranium stock to Turkey. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has rightly described Iran’s agreement to send enriched uranium to Turkey as a constructive move. US’s plans to rope in other members of the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran despite the swap deal under which Iran will send 2,640 pounds of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey within one month and, in turn, receive fuel rods for a medical research reactor. US along with several European nations have taken a dim view of the swap deal facilitated by Brazil and Turkey, suspecting that it was just a manoeuvre to derail the push for Security Council sanctions against Iran. The swap deal is similar to the offer US and other countries had put on the table in October. As far as India is concerned, it has taken the right and appropriate stand by opposing US's move to find out excuse for imposing sanctions against Iran. India must asserts before the US for its tendencing of establishing its hegemony on the entire world by adopting whatever means suits its interests.