On the lines of the Afghan model, where a UN-authorised international security and assistance force is helping police the country, India would like the US to seek additional authorisation from the UN Security Council before it sends its own troops to war-ravaged Iraq.But even as a Pentagon team, led by US Assistant Secretary for Defence Peter Rodman held day-long discussions with Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal and carried out detailed negotiations with the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi seemed to have postponed its moment of truth by flagging additional queries for Washington.Clearly, New Delhi continues to be uncomfortable under the collar about the ‘‘occupying forces’’ label that UNSC resolution 1483 pins on the US-UK authority that has taken the responsibility to run Iraq.On the other hand, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani’s successful visit to the US last week could lead to such a transforming effect that the BJP-led government might find itself tempted to play in the big league in Iraq, alongside the US and the UK.Analysts here pointed out that India is the only developing country that has been asked to control one out of five Iraqi sectors — in Kurdistan.But with the establishment divided down the middle on the politics of sending upto 20,000 combat troops to help the US keep the law and order in Iraq, analysts pointed out that a final decision would reflect the course foreign policy would take in an election year.Advani’s reported keenness to go ahead on Iraq in the US last week would also need to be squared with Prime Minister Vajpayee’s own statement in Evian, that Indian troops could not function under foreign command.Highly placed sources here admitted that the key to crack the conundrum was the Afghan model. Just as the British, on a request of the Afghan foreign minister, asked the UN Security Council to authorise an International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) for Afghanistan, so could the US do so for Iraq.That is, the US could now go back to the UN Security Council and request for an appeal, that may or may not come in the form of a resolution, to member states to help out in Iraq.‘‘That would help India to discharge its international responsibility,’’ the sources said, pointing out that India needed to look at its own historical relationship with Iraq and the rest of the neighbourhood.Meanwhile, even as the MEA contemplates its next steps on talking to Iraq’s neighbours, which include Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait, India’s ambassador to Baghdad B B Tyagi has already reached the Iraqi capital.Highly placed sources here said he would soon be meeting representatives of the interim Iraqi authority as well as local Iraqis to get a sense of the mood on the ground. In fact, a political-military team from New Delhi has reached Najaf to set up an Indian field hospital and provide humanitarian aid to the local population.
