Shanghai: Expressing concern over the post-war situation in Iraq, Defence Minister George Fernandes on April 27 said India is ready to send a floating naval hospital and relief supplies as part of the country's humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people.

"I was always of the view that the kind of war that was waged was not going to stop where it has. I believe that there will be far more destabilisation not only in Iraq, which is already getting demonstrated," Fernandes said.

"Its reverberations will be felt in other countries also," Fernandes said in the East Chinese metropolis before winding up his week-long and first-ever visit to China.

Message Board

Is the US acting as a sole superpower by snubbing UN? Post your views

Asked what India would do to alleviate the long suffering of the Iraqi people, he said the government is ready to send in relief supplies as well as doctors.

"As far as we are concerned, we have kept ourselves ready to provide relief supplies. We have in readiness a floating hospital manned by our Naval doctors and we also have a ship ready to move in with food, medical and other relief supplies," he said.

"We are waiting to see when exactly it would be possible for us to move it there. We are ready," he said.

Asked for his views on the escalating tensions in the Korean peninsula between the United States and North Korea on Pyongyang's secret nuclear weapons programme, Fernandes hoped that the issue would be solved soon.

"I think the three countries, (the United States, North Korea and China), which are presently making an effort to resolve the problem there, will be able to persuade the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) to accept their suggestions on what to do with their nuclear weapon arsenal."

"We wish them well and hope they (the three countries) will succeed," Fernandes said, even as the tripartite meeting between officials from the United States, North Korea abruptly ended their first face-to-face contact in over six months in Beijing on April 25, with Pyongyang reportedly admitting to having a nuclear weapon.

PTI