US envoy's comments on Iran nuclear vote 'inappropriate': India

NEW DELHI, Friday (AFP) - India described as "inappropriate" comments from the US ambassador to New Delhi linking a historic nuclear deal with the United States to India's stance on Iran's nuclear program.

Ambassador David Mulford was summoned by India's Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, and told that his comments were "inappropriate and not conducive to building a strong partnership between the two democracies," a foreign ministry statement said.

"The ambassador expressed his sincere regrets, saying that his remarks had been taken out of context," the statement added.

On Wednesday, Mulford said India could lose out on the historic nuclear deal with the US if it did not vote against Iran at a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Mulford also warned that Washington was not convinced by India's statements on the separation of its civilian and military nuclear programmes, a key pre-condition for the bilateral deal.

If India decides not to back an eventual IAEA resolution against Iran, "the effect on members of the US Congress with regard to (India-US) civil nuclear initiative will be devastating," Mulford told PTI.

"I think the Congress will simply stop considering the matter. I think the initiative will die in the Congress not because the US administration would want it to," he said.

"This should be part of the calculations India will have to keep in mind," Mulford said, adding that "India will have to make a determination on what its national interests are."

Washington agreed last July to share advanced civilian nuclear technology with New Delhi, lifting sanctions triggered by India's nuclear tests in 1998.

Thursday's foreign ministry statement on Mulford noted that "it was not at all his intention to question India's right to take decisions on various issues on the basis of its own national interests."

"The foreign secretary informed the ambassador that Indias vote on any possible resolution on the Iran nuclear issue at the IAEA would be determined by Indias own judgement of the merits of the case," it said.

The two had also agreed to work closely together for a successful visit by US President George W. Bush to India in March, it added.