New Delhi: Voicing India's stiff opposition to any unilateral military action
against Iraq, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on March 12 said in Parliament the
option of permitting more time to facilitate a decision within the UN framework
should be given a chance.
Making a statement in both Houses of Parliament, he warned that unilateralism on the
Iraq issue would result in the UN being "deeply scarred" with "disastrous
consequences" for the world order.
"The government of India would strongly urge that no military action be taken, which
does not have the collective concurrence of the international community," he said.
Outlining the Indian position, he said, "The international community must take a
very careful look both at the objective of achieving Iraq's full compliance with UN
resolutions and at the means adopted to reach this goal."
He said, "This can be best achieved by a collective decision through the UN. If
permitting more time and formulation of clearer criteria can facilitate a decision
within the UN framework, we believe this option should be given a chance."
The Prime Minister made it clear that his Government has drawn up
contingency plans to deal with any eventuality.
He said there were less than 50 Indian nationals in Iraq at present and they
have been advised to leave the country in the coming days.
"It is unlikely that there would be any large-scale dislocation of Indian
communities in neighbouring countries on a possible outbreak of
hostilities," he said.
However, the Civil Aviation ministry has drawn up plans to evacuate Indians,
if necessary, he said.
Steps have also been taken by Petroleum and Natural Gas ministry to "shore
up our inventories of crude oil".
He said "while no major dislocation in crude oil imports is envisaged, India
has adequate foreign exchange reserves to meet a higher crude oil import
bill if prices continue to rise in the short run".
Observing that the situation in Iraq has been rapidly evolving over the past
few weeks, Vajpayee said India consistently stood for a peaceful resolution
of the crisis.
He said peace and prosperity of the Gulf was of vital interest to India
given its long standing political, cultural and economic ties with the
countries of the region.
The Prime Minister said there were over 3.5 million Indians working in the
Gulf "whose welfare is of great concern to us."
Their remittances were an important source of foreign exchange for the
country, he said while noting that over 60 per cent of India's crude oil
imports were sourced from the region. The Gulf countries have also emerged
as important destinations for Indian exports.
PTI
