India, Iraq set to revive ties

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 24. After years of neglect, India and Iraq are set to revive political and economic ties.

The high-profile Vice-President and number two in the Iraqi hierarchy, Mr. Taha Yassin Ramadhan, will arrive here next week on a five-day visit to give fresh direction to the relationship.

India, which had enjoyed close ties with Iraq before the Gulf war, is keen on building a new relationship. It sees in Iraq a prominent player which can fulfil its energy security needs. Iraq has the second largest deposits of oil in the Persian Gulf and produces high quality ``sweet crude''. In fact, India's shore- based industry was developed keeping in mind the energy flows from Iraq.

Baghdad, on its part, sees in a closer relationship with New Delhi, an opportunity to break out of its international isolation, and realises that trade in oil is central to cementing the relationship. Not surprisingly, Mr. Ramadhan's entourage includes the Oil Minister, Dr. Amer Mohammed Rashid, and the Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Nur Al Weiss.

India is rolling out the red carpet for the visiting dignitary, who will call on the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee. He will also meet the External Affairs Minister, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural gas and the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry. The two sides are likely to sign a ``long term cooperation agreement,'' during the visit, which will be preceded by a meeting of the Indo-Iraq joint commission.

India has been recently trading with Iraq under the ``oil for food programme.'' An international sanctions committee oversees the sales of Iraqi crude and ensures it is used only for the procurement of non-military products. Under this programme, India bought around 2.5 million tonnes of Iraqi oil and sold Baghdad half-million tonnes of wheat. It also signed electrical equipment contracts worth $550 million.

The first serious attempt to rehabilitate the relationship began in 1998 with the visit to Baghdad by an Indian parliamentary delegation. This was followed by exchange visits by Agriculture Ministers. The relationship began to acquire some life when high- profile negotiations on oil began last year. Two recent visits - by the Minister of State of External Affairs, Mr. Ajit Panja, and by the Secretary (East) in the Foreign Office - were required to bring Mr. Ramadhan to India at the invitation of the Vice- President, Mr. Krishan Kant.

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