NEW
DELHI, July 13 (IslamOnline.net) - The Indian government is expected to
call the defense ministry to convene here Monday, July 14, to make a
final decision on a U.S. request of sending troops to Iraq for
peacekeeping and reconstruction duties.
Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has called an urgent meeting of top
decision making body on defense issues, the Cabinet Committee on Defense
(CCD), to discuss troops demand for Iraq, government sources in the
Indian capital said.
The
government has not yet made a final decision on the U.S. request,
however, in the face of growing public sentiment against any Indian
military role in Iraq; it is most likely that India would take a
negative decision on the U.S. request.
Public
onion is against sending troops and many of the government members are
also not willing to give U.S. legitimacy, with that ease.
But
sources said that the meeting would be crucial as pros and cons of the
decision would be debated at length.
The
External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, who was to leave for Dhaka on
Monday, July 14, has been asked to delay his departure and attend the
CCS deliberations. Foreign Minister is an important member of the
committee which includes defense minister and other senior security
officials.
U.S.
has demanded many countries, including the two South Asian rivals,
Pakistan and India to send troops to Iraq to help keep peace and to give
its Iraq invasion an international recognition.
Although
Islamabad has announced it agrees "in principal" to the U.S.
demand, it said it needed more time to consider actual issues related to
the troops dispatch.
Dying
Without A Cause
Though
the merits and demerits of the troops option have been debated at
length, in and out of the government, what finally settled the issue was
the reality that there was no domestic consensus in favor of sending
troops to Iraq, with almost all political parties voicing their
opposition to sending troops.
What
has weakened the case for sending the troops is the fact that the United
States has not yet been able to provide any kind of ‘roadmap’ for
the future of Iraq.
"We
don't want our soldiers dying without a cause," said Annu Singh, a
computer engineer working in a posh Delhi locality.
He
said Iraq was not an Indian cause so loosing even a single life could
have disastrous impacts for the government.
"Why
are Indian forces going to Iraq" was the comment of a university
student who said he failed to understand the logic of sending troops to
Iraq while India had its own problems.
