President Saddam Husain welcoming Ram Naik, Indian Oil Minister

By IOL South Asia Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (IslamOnline) - In the strongest ever bid to woo its “ traditional friends” in the Arab world, India has indicated categorically and in no uncertain terms that it is greatly opposed to the U.S. military action against Iraq.

In a flurry of diplomatic initiative, Indian Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal, arrived in Russia Friday, September 6. He will be holding talks with top Russian officials regarding U.S. military action against Iraq to dethrone President Saddam Hussein. Russia holds views similar to that of India.

Krishnan Raghunath, India’ s Ambassador to Russia, while talking to media persons in Moscow, said, “ India and Russia have a common stand on Iraq and, like most of the members of the global community, speak for the political solution of the crisis on the basis of UN resolutions.”

Earlier, India’ s Foreign Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, in a meeting with Arab and African ambassadors had stated the government’ s stand that the use of force against any nation is completely unacceptable. “ We are very clear that there should be no armed action against any country, more particularly with the avowed purpose of changing a regime,” Sinha said.

It may be noted that the United States is trying to drum up support from various countries for a military action against Iraq. The United States fears that "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq’ s hands are likely to fall into the hands of terrorists, and therefore the military action is justified.

However, much to the discomfiture of the U.S., military action against Iraq especially with the expressed aim of toppling Saddam Hussein, has met with stiff opposition from allies like Germany and France, besides several other countries. Though, according to latest reports, Britain is assisting the U.S. in pounding Iraq. 100 jet fighters belonging to the U.S. and Britain took part in action against Iraq Friday, September 6, reports said.

India, however, has its own reasons for not supporting the United States this time round although it has been consistently wooing Washington for better ties. There is a growing realization among government circles here that Washington cannot do “ much more” for India regarding Kashmir problem and the issue of "cross-border terrorism" which India claims is being supported by Pakistan.

The government is also bitter about the U.S. approach in its fight against terrorism. Government circles here are piqued over the U.S. "duality". They complain that while on the one hand the U.S. is trying its level best to topple the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, on the other it is trying to keep the Pakistani dictator Gen. Pervez Musharraf firmly in the saddle.

During the 1991 Gulf War, India tried to run with the hare and hunt with the hound in terms of its support to Iraq. While India opposed the U.S. and allied attack on Iraq, at the same time it provided refueling facilities to U.S. planes in Indian airports. Now, India has learnt a few diplomatic lessons the hardest way, officials in the Foreign Affairs ministry admit. The country cannot afford to lose its traditional Arab friends come what may, they said.

Iraqi Ambassador to India, Salah Al-Muqtar, said, “ Iraq hopes that this time, Indian policy will be clearer. India has understood fully now that any war with Iraq besides the absence of legal coverage will affect directly its major interests. India has at least four million Indians working in the Gulf region.”

India fears that in the event of the U.S. military attack against Iraq oil prices would skyrocket. Fuel supplies would be disrupted adversely affecting economies worldwide, particularly Third World nations. The U.S. strike would not only destabilize Iraq, but also the entire Gulf region as well as Central Asia, officials said. India largely depends on the oil supplies from the Gulf region.

In 1999 Indian annual trade with Iraq was $300 million. At present it has touched $1 billion, sources said, adding that next year this would be doubled.

India has another reason to feel indebted to Iraq. The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), which was once a bitter critic of India, is now ready to consider its membership. Iraq played a major role in pleading India’ s case, officials said.

Another major irritant with India is that its immediate rival Pakistan would shortly become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2003-2004 term during the 57th UN General Assembly to be held in New York in September-December. India would therefore like to keep the Arab countries on its right side at least during this period.

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