04-02-2006, 07:23 AM
<b>TIME BOMB</b> - Pioneer.com
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->As such, the Security Council's message to Tehran is a landmark in the global system's attempt to structure an adequate response to this principal challenge of the post-9/11 world. The mix of rogue regimes and WMD is explosive. The impetuous attempt to cut the Gordian knot in Iraq in 2003 should not come in the way of recognising that concern. By working with the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, by seeking accord in action with France and Russia, even China, the United States has indicated it has learnt its lessons in multilateralism. The Bush administration has come a long way from the acrid build-up to war three years ago. Iran's nukes are a planetary problem, not a partisan pinprick.
For the Manmohan Singh Government, the Security Council's unambiguous signal to Iran should be reassuring. It protects India's broader interest, validates its vote at the IAEA and yet - since this country is not currently a member of the Security Council and has not played a direct role in the admonition of Iran - does not run the danger of becoming an issue in the upcoming State election. Busy as the Government is with addressing possible roadblocks - in Washington, across the American political landscape and, beyond that, in the Nuclear Suppliers' Group - to the India-US nuclear deal, the last thing New Delhi needs is Communist-Muslim public meetings denouncing an alleged "betrayal" of Iran.
Indeed, for the CPI(M) and the CPI the Security Council's decision should have a salutary effect. Mr Prakash Karat's pursuit of an "independent" foreign policy - which in effect means letting Teheran build a nuclear arsenal - has been rejected by the highest UN body. <b>What will the Left do now? Threaten to expose the class character of the Security Council? </b>Â <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> India's Marxists have been offered an escape route. They must seize it, as should Iran's mullahs.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->As such, the Security Council's message to Tehran is a landmark in the global system's attempt to structure an adequate response to this principal challenge of the post-9/11 world. The mix of rogue regimes and WMD is explosive. The impetuous attempt to cut the Gordian knot in Iraq in 2003 should not come in the way of recognising that concern. By working with the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, by seeking accord in action with France and Russia, even China, the United States has indicated it has learnt its lessons in multilateralism. The Bush administration has come a long way from the acrid build-up to war three years ago. Iran's nukes are a planetary problem, not a partisan pinprick.
For the Manmohan Singh Government, the Security Council's unambiguous signal to Iran should be reassuring. It protects India's broader interest, validates its vote at the IAEA and yet - since this country is not currently a member of the Security Council and has not played a direct role in the admonition of Iran - does not run the danger of becoming an issue in the upcoming State election. Busy as the Government is with addressing possible roadblocks - in Washington, across the American political landscape and, beyond that, in the Nuclear Suppliers' Group - to the India-US nuclear deal, the last thing New Delhi needs is Communist-Muslim public meetings denouncing an alleged "betrayal" of Iran.
Indeed, for the CPI(M) and the CPI the Security Council's decision should have a salutary effect. Mr Prakash Karat's pursuit of an "independent" foreign policy - which in effect means letting Teheran build a nuclear arsenal - has been rejected by the highest UN body. <b>What will the Left do now? Threaten to expose the class character of the Security Council? </b>Â <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> India's Marxists have been offered an escape route. They must seize it, as should Iran's mullahs.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->