New Delhi: Criticising the Centre for adopting an "ambivalent" stand on the Iraq issue, two former Prime Ministers on April 6 warned that the US could soon turn its "attention" on India and Pakistan, making the excuse that they possess nuclear weapons.

"People are saying that after US imposes its rule on Iraq, it will be the turn of Syria and Iran. But the day may not be too far off when India and Pakistan are included in that list because they both have nuclear capability," former Prime Minister V P Singh said.

"US Secretary of State Colin Powell has already thrown a challenge to the Indian leadership by saying that they must resume talks with Pakistan. This ort of implied threat is very dangerous," former Prime Minister I K Gujral said.

They were speaking at a 'shanti panchayat' (peace meeting) organised by Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) to denounce the US-led "aggression" on Iraq.

Singh said the "middle path" adopted by the Centre would be harmful to India's interests in the long run and it should condemn the "unilateral" action of the US and its allies.

Making an oblique reference to India's troubled relations with Pakistan, Gujral said, "In quarrels between neighbours, only outsiders benefit."

He said instead of doing anything to settle disputes with Pakistan, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led government had created "problems" with Bangladesh.

Gujral said its hands-off policy with regard to the affairs of its neighbours was also adding to India's woes.

"India had the chance to facilitate peace talks between the Maoists and Nepal government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankans. Instead, the US stepped in. Today there is American presence in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

"As we fight over Ayodhya and Gujarat, the threat to India as a nation keeps increasing," Gujral said.

Singh said apart from the people of Iraq, the greatest casualty of the US-led war was the United Nations.

"The biggest missile fell on the UN even before it did on Baghdad (when the US and Britain decided to withdraw a UN Security Council resolution, calling for a war)," he said.

Singh said with the UN "becoming almost irrelevant" due to the "imperialistic" designs of the US, it was time to look for alternative means to counter-balance the might of the US.

LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan said his party would soon organise massive protest marches against the war in New Delhi and Patna.

The 'shanti panchayat', attended by several MPs, former Union Ministers, academicians, social, political and human rights activists, Muslim religious leaders and Buddhist monks, demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in Iraq and called for a boycott of American goods.

Representatives of the Embassies of Russia and Libya in New Delhi were also present at the meeting.

PTI