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Wednesday, Jul 07, 2004

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National

Natwar rules out sending troops to Iraq

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 6. The External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, today emphasised in the Lok Sabha that the question of sending Indian troops to Iraq did not arise and that the United Progressive Alliance Government was being guided by the unanimous resolution adopted by Parliament last year.

"We took into account a number of relevant factors such as ground realities, development of political process, role of the United Nations, public perception in Iraq and of Iraq's neighbours, national sentiment in India and capacity to spare our troops for Iraq. Accordingly, we have decided not to consider any troop deployment in Iraq. This will continue. I must clarify that India has not been approached recently for dispatch of troops,'' Mr. Singh said replying to a discussion in the House on the situation in Iraq, initiated by P.K. Vasudevan Nair of the Communist Party of India.

While the Opposition stayed away from participation in the day's proceedings, members belonging to the Left parties, the Janata Dal (Secular), the National Conference, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the MIM made critical references to the violation of human rights by U.S.-led forces in Iraq, the contours of "economic future'' (articulated by Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar during his intervention) and foreign policy in post-Soviet Union era, stand on trial of Saddam Hussein as also Mr. Singh's statement during his visit to Washington last month on "changed situation''.

In an emotional submission, Mr. Singh said any compromise was "inconceivable'' and he was distressed to note the reaction back home.

The Minister said he had called up the Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary, Harikishan Singh Surjeet, from Washington to clear the air and that he was aware of being a Minister in a coalition Government with responsibility to take all allies, both Houses of Parliament and the nation along while pursuing an independent foreign policy, whose framework was set by Jawaharlal Nehru. "I am sitting on a chair Jawaharlal Nehru sat,'' he said.

The Minister also read out a sequence of events during 2003 including a request by the U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, asking India to spare a division strength troops for Iraq, based on which the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, had asked the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to obtain views of all parties. "All of us can take credit for the move'' that eventually led to India's refusal to spare troops then.

Having come under attack for describing that the situation had changed, Mr. Singh said it was in the context of the United States having agreed to a U.N. Security Council resolution. He said two years ago the U.N. was ignored and after having adopted a unilateral route, the U.S. had returned to the multi-lateral forum.

"Within the framework of this Resolution, we always emphasised the need for an early restoration of sovereignty to the Iraqi people, the right of Iraqi people to determine freely their political future and control their natural resources and a vital role for the U.N. in the transitional process and political and economic reconstruction of the country. It is in this spirit that we welcomed the Security Council's Resolution 1546 as a first step towards transfer of authority to the Iraqi people.''

Mr. Singh said India stood committed to assist the people of Iraq in their humanitarian and reconstruction efforts and that the country had committed U.S. $ 20 million assistance; took steps like a training course in India for Iraqi diplomats, for Iraqi officials in information technology, plan to train Iraqi Oil Ministry officials in upstream / downstream units and rehabilitating a hospital among others. He said the Government shared the concern at Indian workers in that country and had now suspended emigration clearance to ex-servicemen to Iraq and neighbouring countries of Kuwait, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to prevent misuse of such clearance to entering Iraq. The move followed reports that Indian ex-servicemen being recruited by private agents to work on static watch and ward duties.

On trial of the former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussain, he said the national and international law should be allowed to take its course and noted that the trial judge where he was being tried was appointed during Mr. Hussain's regime.

Earlier initiating the debate, Mr. Nair charged that the U.S. had foisted a "puppet regime'' under a person who was associated with the Central Intelligence Agency. He likened the torture of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Gharib jail with the Hitler's gas chambers. He warned the dangers of a new order with the U.S. trying to evolve a unipolar world.

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