In late September 2005, I arrived at a hotel in New York for a scheduled interview with India’s then External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh. As I entered the penthouse suite where the minister had his base, I was ushered into the anteroom. Also present were Indian diplomats in attendance to the minister.
As I waited, I asked one of them about the status of India’s vote at the Board of Governors meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on a resolution that rapped Iran for breaching its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations.
A sepulchral silence descended upon the room. “We voted for it,” an official said, in a whisper.
“You mean for Iran?” I wanted to confirm, unable to process what I had heard.
“No, for the resolution,” he clarified. It was a strategic shift that was significant.
The minister, meanwhile, had clear instructions before the interview commenced: no questions on that vote; not even one that would elicit a “No comment.” It was as if India had emerged out of the closet but was still unwilling to disclose its orientation.