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Force must be last option: India

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

United Nations FEB. 19. The objective of the international community is to facilitate disarmament of Iraq and it is necessary to pursue all the available options under Resolution 1441. ``Force should be resorted to only as a last, unavoidable option,'' India has told the United Nations Security Council.

At the open session of the Council to facilitate the airing of views of non-members, India's Permanent Representative to the world body, Vijay Nambiar, said the country had consistently stood for peaceful resolution of the crisis in Iraq as also in the primacy of the multilateral approach.

``We continue to believe that the resolution of this issue is best achieved through the collective forum of States represented by the United Nations,'' Mr. Nambiar said. About 60 nations signed up to speak at the Council over a two-day period. ``India is concerned about the difficult humanitarian situation in Iraq. The Iraqi people have suffered severe shortages ...for over a decade,'' Mr. Nambiar said making the point that the current oil-for-food programme run by the U.N. could be jeopardised in the event of a military action. ``It is important that the Council considers the alleviation of the situation that the Iraqi people find themselves in, while considering the larger picture,'' he said.

India, Mr. Nambiar said, was vitally interested in peace and prosperity of the Gulf region. ``Our special concerns about the current crisis arise from the presence of millions of our expatriates that live and work in the Gulf region, from threats to the security of oil supplies and volatility of oil prices that could follow military action and from the build-up of public sentiments in the region.''

``We sense, and the world senses, that the Security Council is coming close to making a decision between war and peace. However, before it makes a final determination on the question, we would urge the Council to seriously consider the numerous complex ramifications that surround any step taken by it.''

This ``numerous complex ramifications'' would include such issues as the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction.

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