Indian Parties Demand U.S. Envoy Ouster

Left-wing political parties in India have asked New Delhi to demand the recall of U.S. Ambassador David Mulford, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 30).

Mulford last week said India could jeopardize a pending nuclear technology sharing agreement with the United States if did not vote against Iran at Thursday’s emergency International Atomic Energy Agency meeting (see related GSN story, today).

“The government should demand his recall from India as it is unbecoming on any ambassador’s part to comment on such matters,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) member Sitaram Yechury said yesterday (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 30).

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said New Delhi is still evaluating its position on Iran ahead of Thursday’s meeting, AFP reported today.

“We are reviewing the situation and we will articulate our stand at the appropriate time,” he said.

Indian officials told The Hindu newspaper that India would vote to refer Iran’s nuclear dossier to the U.N. Security Council, while other reports said India planned to abstain, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 31).

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