The Hindu : 'Current conditions in Iraq more positive'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 17, 2003

National

National

'Current conditions in Iraq more positive'

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 16. The United Kingdom and the United States are not in Iraq as "permanent occupiers'' and will hand power back to the Iraqi people, the British High Commissioner to India, Rob Young, said this evening.

Taking questions after a speech on "India and the U.K.: Reflections on a Modern Partnership'', Sir Rob said the current conditions in Iraq were more positive than what the media projected.

Denying that the U.K. was part of a unilateral exercise in attacking Iraq, he said: "We weren't on our own. Twenty countries were with us...'' The transfer of power in Iraq, he said, could happen in the next one year or so.

Speaking in glowing terms about the India-British relationship, the outgoing High Commissioner said there was no question of "mediation'' on Kashmir as this was an issue to be resolved by India and Pakistan.

``But if the U.K. can help to reduce tensions and create the right conditions for productive dialogue, we shall. I believe this issue is now adding another layer of confidence and trust to the relationship,'' he said at the British Council.

Pointing out that India and Britain were working together on a number of regional issues, including Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, he said that "action against terrorism'' was the cornerstone of the partnership charted out by Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and Atal Behari Vajpayee, in January 2002.

``Both India and the United Kingdom have suffered the terrible effects of terrorism at first hand. Terrorism is an attack on the human rights and civil liberties of all people,'' Sir Rob said.

According to him, the end of the Cold War and the opening up of the Indian economy in the early 1990s removed the "brakes'' on the bilateral relationship between the two countries. "What we have seen in the last decade is an unleashing of pent-up energy, a realising of potential long held back.''

Pointing out that there were 1.3 million British citizens of Indian origin in the U.K, he said there were more tourists from Britain to India than any other country — some 3,00,000 every year.

Sir Rob said bilateral trade between the two countries had almost doubled to £ 5 billions in the past 10 years and India was the U.K.'s second largest trading partner.

``To create the right international climate for economic growth, it is essential that all WTO (World Trade Organisation) members continue to work towards a successful outcome at the ministerial conference in Cancun in September 2003...''

``Europe and other developed countries have to do more. We cannot keep mouthing rhetoric on free markets if we are not prepared to deliver. We are working with our European partners to ensure that we honour the promises we made at Doha. Particularly those commitments given to developing countries, not least in agriculture,'' he said.

Education, the High Commissioner said, was a strong link between London and New Delhi with around 11,000 students currently studying in the U.K. The British Council, he said, had its largest operation in India.

"It runs libraries in 11 cities with a membership of 1,00,000''.

Sir Rob was convinced that "greater international partnership'' was the way to finding solutions to global challenges like poverty, ill-health, climate change, weapons proliferation, drugs and terrorism. "Now more than ever before we have to deal with these issues collectively.''

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National