These reactions reflect, at least in part, Indian annoyance with some of the conflicting statements from, and actions by, Washington in the past three weeks. Even while deputy US secretary of state Strobe Talbott has explicitly conceded the legitimacy of India's security concerns, and asked India to recognise the legitimacy of America's desire to protect the global non-proliferation regime, the state department, and President Clinton, have been leaving no stone unturned to isolate India from the rest of the world. Following his phonecall to Tony Blair to initiate sanctions against India during the May meeting of the European Union, the joint resolution with China condemning India and Pakistan's N-tests, and his by and large unsuccessful effort to get President Yeltsin to include a strong condemnation of the tests in their joint statement in Moscow last week, one can be excused for wondering whether parts of President Mandela's speech and Kofi Annan's report to the UN on the threat to security posed by the tests, were also drafted in Washington.