ISLAMABAD, Sept 25: Pakistan was among the 12 countries, including China and Russia, that on Saturday abstained from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s vote on the EU-3 sponsored and US-backed resolution on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme.

Notably India that had all along asserted it was under no pressure from the United States and openly opposed referral of Iran’s case to the UN Security Council took a U-turn and voted in favour of the resolution. The change in Indian stance is seen as a calculated move to get the green light from the US Congress for the civilian nuclear technology deal.

Soon after the resolution was passed the US undersecretary of State thanked India for supporting Washington’s position on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Pakistan and India are both members of the 35-member board of governors of the IAEA that put the resolution on Iran to vote.

The resolution passed by the IAEA’s governing board in Vienna on Saturday requires Iran to be reported to the UN Security Council at an unspecified date if it fails to convince the Agency that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.

It was supported by 22 countries and 12 countries abstained including Algeria, Brazil, Mexico, Tunisia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Venezuela was the only country that voted against the resolution.

When this Correspondent asked a senior official here on Sunday why Pakistan had opted to abstain instead of voting against the resolution he was quick to point out that even Russia and China, the strongest critics of the move to report Iran’s case to the Security Council, had also taken the same position. He maintained that in multilateral diplomacy it was not prudent to be a lone ranger and be seen totally indifferent to the notion of consensus.

“It is undiplomatic and has a negative connotation,” is how a former Pakistani diplomat put it.

The diplomat argued that Pakistan had stuck to its principled position on Iran’s nuclear issue and by abstaining it clearly conveyed that it did not endorse the resolution.

A few days before the resolution was put to vote by IAEA, Pakistan had categorically stated that it was not in favour of reporting Iran’s case to the Security Council. The Iranian President then called President Gen Pervez Musharraf to express his gratitude for the support Pakistan had shown.

Meanwhile, India’s U-turn on Iran’s nuclear issue has raised serious questions about its predictability as a partner in the proposed tripartite Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. India’s seriousness about the project is also being questioned.

Iran, perhaps still recovering from the surprise Indian blow, is at the moment quiet on this question.