Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said India's decision to support the IAEA resolution on Iran's controversial nuclear programme is not against Tehran's interests.
"What we have done is not against Iran. Give diplomacy time to find a via media that is mutually acceptable," he said at the Rashtrapati Bhavan after President A P J Abdul Kalam gave away the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for 2004 to former civil servant C Srivastava.
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Read all about the Iran vote
Citing the Bagwat Gita, Dr Singh also played down the strong criticism by Communist Party of India-Marxist holding him 'directly responsible' for India's vote.
"Nothing surprises me," he said when asked whether the article by CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat in People's Democracy had caught him unawares.
"Gita says one must do one's duty unmindful of the consequences," the prime minister said.
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of 'appeasing' the US, Karat in a strongly-worded article in his party organ asserted that the Left cannot countenance this 'new direction' of the foreign policy
