The Hindu : BJP against troops to Iraq under U.S. command

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 21, 2003

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BJP against troops to Iraq under U.S. command

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 20. The Mumbai conclave of the BJP which ended today has come to the conclusion that ``there is no question of sending Indian troops to Iraq if they are to work under the command of the Unites States forces.''

The issue was discussed at some length by the party leaders huddled there in the last four days. Highly-placed sources said that while the party felt that the Government would take the decision in the best interest of the country, the forceful view was that under no circumstances would our troops be commanded by officers other than Indian.

A meeting of the ruling National Democratic Alliance has been called here tomorrow at the Prime Minister's residence to discuss the issue. When the Prime Minister consulted a Congress delegation led by its president, Sonia Gandhi, last Sunday the Government had said that it would discuss the matter with its allies as well as some other Opposition parties.

The Prime Minister's bid to normalise relations with Pakistan and the issue of sending troops to Iraq were the most important foreign policy matters that got attention at the Mumbai conclave. In the absence of the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, it fell upon the former External Affairs Minister (now Finance Minister), Jaswant Singh, to make a presentation on Iraq to explain the complicated matter.

Although the formulation at the conclave suggested, on the face of it, that the BJP is opposed to sending Indian troops to Iraq, it is being pointed out that the U.S. could try and get over the issue of ``command'' of the forces by offering a region in Iraq to the Indian troops for duties related to maintaining peace and bringing back normality.

But no matter what the formulation, the overall ``authority'' is defined as the ``occupying powers under a unified command'' by the United Nations resolution adopted on May 23. In fact, that very resolution legitimises help by other member states towards ``stability and security in Iraq by contributing personnel, equipment and other resources'' but emphasises that this would be ``under the Authority'' (of the occupying forces).

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