India walks tightrope between US, Iraq

A day after the US moved a new resolution at the UN to pave the way for military action against Saddam Hussein, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee...

A day after the US moved a new resolution at the UN to pave the way for military action against Saddam Hussein, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee signalled the inevitability of a showdown in Iraq by indicating that the NAM countries were putting pressure on Baghdad to disarm rather than stand up to Washington.

During the two-day intensive deliberations on Iraq at the NAM summit, it has become clear that a majority of the nations, including host Malaysia, displayed the art of realpolitik by keeping both options on the impending war open. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad may have delivered a brusque speech that hinted at the impending clash of civilizations, privately Kuala Lumpur was more than happy signing the tepid NAM resolution on Iraq.

After UN envoy Lakhdar Brahmi delivered Secretary General Kofi Anan’s message at the NAM on Monday, the writing on the wall was clear — since the US cannot be stopped, put pressure on Iraq to comply with all UN resolutions, including 1441. This, perhaps, has also been NAM’s prescription to Saddam Hussein to avoid war.

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The Indian position, on its part, continues to remain fluid and flexible on Iraq. The Prime Minister told reporters this afternoon that the ‘‘US role in the Iraq crisis was such that it cannot be supported.’’ However, he went on to suggest that the Indian position will only become clear when the red flag goes up on Iraq. That the Indian stand on Iraq is at best ambivalent became clear after Brajesh Mishra, National Security Advisor, passed on a message to Vajpayee while the latter was speaking on the western role in the impending conflict. Read out by Vajpayee, the statement stressed on the centrality of the UN in the entire dispute and that the multilateral forum still had a role to play in the Iraq affair. ‘‘Even today UN is playing an active role in the crisis. Both the US and Iraq are engaged at the UN,’’ Vajpayee said.

The Prime Minister observed that NAM was formed during the Cold War and it is meeting again when the war clouds are looming large on the horizon. He was basically indicating that the global community was again aligning itself with blocks pro and anti to the US stance on Iraq. ‘‘No one has said that war will not happen — none has any idea on how to stop it — it is a tricky question and even the UN is undergoing a supreme test,’’ said Vajpayee.

He said no country was willing to take an extreme position on Iraq but maintained that Iraq should pay heed to the NAM resolution as it may show the way forward. He, however, conveyed the helplessness of NAM countries to avert the war, indicating that the world leaders here were looking for ‘‘succour and relief’’ rather than any specific answers to the Iraq issue. ‘‘The situation is difficult and NAM will have to engage it as it is also a question of its relevance,’’ the Prime Minister said. While Vajpayee categorically said Iraq should give up its weapons of mass destruction, he raised the question of North Korea going ahead and building nuclear weapons.