The Indian foreign office summoned the United States Ambassador to tell him that his comments on the Indo-US nuclear deal and the Iran vote were “inappropriate and not conducive to building a strong partnership between our two independent democracies.” Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee issued a formal statement saying that Ambassador David Mulford’s “outrageous” statements violated all diplomatic norms. He criticized the foreign office for issuing a “routine” response saying that it “hardly expresses the indignation of the people of the sovereign and independent Republic of India.” India informed the US that India's vote on any possible resolution on the Iran nuclear issue at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be determined by New Delhi's own judgment of the merits of the case and in its national interests. Mulford offered his sincere regrets and stated that his comments were taken out of context. He said the US did not want to “to question India's right to take decisions on various issues on the basis of its own national interests.” In the US, a State Department spokesman said that Mulford expressed his “personal opinion.” Vajpayee said it was "worse" that Mr. Mulford's remarks were "personal" as "Ambassadors are not required to make personal remarks denigrating their host country." The State Department also said that Mulford was voicing comments already issued by the US Congress. Congressman Tom Lantos, an anti-Indian political extremist who used some uncharitable words in Congressional hearings on India and Indian Foreign Ministers, voiced similar sentiments when he visited India last fall.