Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Relevance of U.N.

Sir, — This has reference to the article "Is the United Nations relevant?" by C. Raja Mohan (March 13). He rightly concludes that if the United States goes to war without the consent of the United Nations, the world body is in danger of becoming irrelevant. However, it is difficult to agree with his analysis that India has little to lose from the collapse of the old order, which is really the United Nations system itself.

First of all, Mr. Mohan's comparison of India's actions in East Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Kashmir to proposed American unilateral action in Iraq is odious. India was faced not only with a murderous regime across the border, but also was flooded with millions of refugees from East Pakistan. In the case of Sri Lanka, India's action of dropping food and other aid in northern Sri Lanka cannot be equated with unilateral military action or an act of war. In the case of Kashmir, though it is undeniable that India took the issue to the U.N., it can be treated only as a territorial dispute with a neighbour. None of the three situations can be compared to the Bush administration's proposal to invade Iraq.

P. Sriram,
Chennai

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