'India was our friend'

That is precisely what the top brass of the Iranian govt must be feeling at present. Even though India did not achieve much through the leadership of the Non-alignment Movement (NAM) it did act as a mature country, a country which understood the compulsions of international politics, but still maintained an identity of its own. But now, first through the 'historical' alliance between the US and India under teh BJP regime and the conitnued 'partnership among equals' under the congress regime, India seems to be acting like a country without a spine. Take any sphere of international polictics and India has come out in the dumps. The negotiations on WTO where India failed ot convince the African countreis that the best foot forward would have been to stick together. Instead the smaller Afrcian nations moved to cut deals with the US. India needs to understand that the best in its position as a developing nation wiht wide demographic characteristics, it is a natural leader of the developing countries. In this aspect our detonation of nuclear bombs and continuing development inspite of the sanctions only reinforced the trust that was imposed in us. We might have taken to the US because it is the only superpower right now, but the gains that accrue could be at huge costs. As a nation what are our major requirements? Energy, Security, Markets for our exports and a few particular imports. Each of these needs except possibly security ( which could still be met by France, Germany etc) would be better served by going together with the world rather than USA. Our people have made significant progerss in US as a nation and might be influential there but it will take time before they become influencers in policay making with a lot of anti-india hawks still doing their homework. That India has asked Iran's programme to be referred to the IAEA can at best be seen as a sell off by a Shiite nation whose support could be crucial to us over a period of time. Asia is rising and we need supporters here as much as we need the US for our nuclear capabilities. Seen in light of the fact that chances of an armed conflict are minimum in the near future it is imperative to get the support of all the countries in Asia. Dont sell out India.
that is that