As the US-led campaign against Iraq intensifies, India has decided to pursue a calibrated approach bearing in mind its long term relations with the US and, more importantly, not to allow the Iraq crisis to have a spillover effect on the J-K issue.Given Pakistan’s fixation on Kashmir, Government sources said any attempts by New Delhi to outrightly oppose the US-led war could end up providing Islamabad with an added leverage to internationalise its favourite issue. The fact that J-K has been earlier identified as a nuclear flashpoint in the United Nations would make it only easier for Islamabad.French Foreign Minister Dominique De Villepin had mentioned South Asia alongside North Korea as areas where unresolved issues continue to spawn violence in his speech at the Security Council meeting on March 7. He went on to condemn the use of force to resolve such issues and raised possibilities of international intervention.In case of any international pressure over J-K in the days ahead, New Delhi is of the view that obtaining US support will be crucial. While acknowledging the growing concerns among countries like Iran over the US pledge to ‘‘ward off’’ the threat posed by countries which it calls the ‘‘axis of evil’’, officials here feel that New Delhi needs to veer out of any allied attempts which could only harm its national interests in the long run.Moreover, another prominent view in South Block is that Baghdad perhaps could have done more to cooperate with UN arms inspectors. That Al-Samoud missiles and drones were recovered by them only buttresses US charges of non-compliance, sources said.On the unilaterality of Washington, sources said, it is important to take on board the fact that such actions have occurred in the past too. In sum, they argue that in situations such as a war, national interests and not emotional outbursts ought to guide policy.
