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Journalism of Courage
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee may have conveyed his anguish to President George Bush over Gulf War II but New Delhi is taking care to ensure that its criticism of the US action does not ‘‘damage’’ the long-term bilateral ties between the two countries.
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All-party meet on Iraq today
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| NEW DELHI: Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee has convened an all-party meeting here on Saturday to discuss the evolving situation in Iraq following the US-led attack on that country. Vajpayee is expected to utilise the opportunity to apprise the political leaders of his telephonic talks with US President George Bush after the war began. The Prime Minister had conveyed India’s deep anguish over the military action and hoped it would conclude at the earliest. While reaffirming that India recognised validity of UN Security Council Resolution 1441 asking Iraq to disarm, Vajpayee also wanted the international community to pay special attention to the humanitarian situation in that country. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Manmohan Singh and former Union minister K. Natwar Singh would represent the party at the meeting. The last all-party meeting held on March 10 had failed to reach unanimity on a parliamentary resolution against any unilateral action against Iraq with some Opposition parties accusing the Centre of not willing to ‘‘annoy’’ Washington. (PTI) |
New Delhi’s assessment of the ongoing war in Iraq is that its duration would depend on the resistance offered to US-led forces in Baghdad. Sources say fierce fighting in Baghdad may lead to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein highlighting civilian casualties in order to inflame anti-US passions in the Arab and Islamic nations. South Block has noted that the US has never attracted such adverse reactions even when it militarily intervened in Kosovo sans UN sanction.
The joining of hands of France, Russia and China seems to have given rise to a new coalition but New Delhi is not sure how long this will last.
‘‘It’s for the first time that NATO members such as France, Germany and Belgium have joined with non-NATO members like Russia and China. Such fissures within Europe and between Europe and the US are most uncommon and may impinge on future world order,’’ said an official.
While New Delhi thinks that seeds of European defiance of US have been sown, at the same time the perception is that the age-old trans-Atlantic understanding has not been ruptured. This is because the US-Euro relations are based on huge economic and commercial considerations.
The government seems to be firm on the ‘‘middle-path’’ on Iraq, as it has taken note of the fact that barring Syria, the Arab and Islamic world has only issued statements but taken no concrete action to oppose US action in Iraq. This fact is underlined by the support the Gulf countries are offering to the US military operations against Baghdad.
New Delhi finds its ironical that some of the Non-Aligned nations, who openly condemned the then impending US action against Iraq in the UN General Assembly, are supporting the military action. In fact, Non-Aligned nations such as Kuwait, Qatar and even Saudi Arabia are providing logistics to the US forces. It is precisely for this reason that India had refused to take the centrestage against US in the NAM summit in Kuala Lumpur last month.
