New Delhi, Nov. 8: Natwar Singh may have been forced out of the external affairs ministry but he appears to have made it difficult for India to vote again on a West-initiated resolution against Iran’s nuclear programme.

The issue is to come up at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors’ meeting on November 24 in Vienna. India is among the 35 members on the board.

Faced with mounting pressure to step down after he was named in the Volcker report, Natwar on Sunday declared that as foreign minister his advice to the government would be to review its stand on Iran’s nuclear programme.

At the last meeting of the board, India had voted with the US and other western countries on a resolution widely seen as anti-Iran.

Although Delhi managed to stop Iran from being “immediately referred” to the UN Security Council, as the US and its European allies desired, the Congress-led government came under attack from different quarters in India for siding with the West rather than its “traditional ally”.

Now, with an eye on support from the Left and anti-US sections in the Volcker controversy, Natwar has said India should review its stand. A few days earlier, he had argued in Moscow that Delhi was in favour of resolving the issue at the IAEA level without referring it to the UN Security Council.

Although Natwar is no longer foreign minister, his public remarks have posed a serious challenge to Delhi on how it should formulate its stand for the IAEA meet. The best case scenario for India would be for the matter to be resolved at the IAEA level.

“No one wants the issue to be on the boil. India, China, Russia and many other key members of the board want the issue to be resolved at the level of the IAEA,” a senior Indian diplomat said. But he was quick to point out that for this to happen, a lot would depend on how flexible Iran is about ending its controversial nuclear programme.

The Iranian leadership has expressed its willingness to restart its stalled negotiations with the European Three ? Britain, France and Germany. The EU-3 is now mulling over the Iran proposal.

Kasuri sorry

Pakistan foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri called up Natwar and said he was sorry to learn that the minister had given up the external affairs portfolio.

Kasuri, an old friend of Natwar, said he would be missed as India and Pakistan continue their peace efforts.