Arvid
14-07-03, 12:57
NEW DELHI (AFP) Jul 13, 2003
India will not contribute troops to a US-led stabilisation force in Iraq as it would compromise the national interest, a report said Sunday.
New Delhi was to formalise its decision at a security cabinet meeting on Monday, the Hindu newspaper reported, quoting unidentified sources.
Officials contacted Sunday refused comment on the report.
The government decision is likely to displease the US administration, which has dispatched several envoys to convey that Washington would be "extremely grateful" if India would agree to send soldiers to Iraq, the daily said.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, however, seems willing to risk American displeasure due to a lack of a domestic consensus on the issue.
New Delhi has been weighing whether to send about 17,000 soldiers to Iraq since a request in early May from the United States, which is hoping to replace its own forces with an international stabilisation force.
While some of prime minister's top aides seemed to support the request, there was resistance from opposition groups and members of Vajpayee's BJP-led coalition government, who argued that Indian troops must work only under the United Nations flag, not a US-British command.
A team of officials from the Pentagon came to New Delhi last month hoping to allay New Delhi's misgivings, and the subject also figured in talks between Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal and his US counterpart in Washington last week.
The Indian foreign ministry had sent a senior official to the Gulf region for consultations with Iraq's neighbours. Media reports said Iran and Syria, who have warm ties with New Delhi, were opposed to New Delhi sending troops.
The Hindu said Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani had favoured sending troops to Iraq, but had soured on the idea, as did Defence Minister George Fernandes and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra.
Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha was undecided while Finance Minister Jaswant Singh favoured deploying troops in Iraq, according to the Hindu report.
That India would have had to foot the estimated 130 million-rupee (three million-dollar) bill to send its soldiers to Iraq also figured in the decision-making process, the report said, as did Washington's inability to draw a roadmap for the future of Iraq.
And with general elections looming next year, the government and ruling BJP realised they stood to lose politically by sending troops for the reconstruction of Iraq after a war that India opposed.
http://media.fastclick.net/w/get.media?t=s&sid=10749&m=3&f=b&v=1.4&c=259&r=http%3A//www.spacewar.com/2003/030713072448.orr2iku6.html&d=f
GO INDIA :lole: :lole:
India will not contribute troops to a US-led stabilisation force in Iraq as it would compromise the national interest, a report said Sunday.
New Delhi was to formalise its decision at a security cabinet meeting on Monday, the Hindu newspaper reported, quoting unidentified sources.
Officials contacted Sunday refused comment on the report.
The government decision is likely to displease the US administration, which has dispatched several envoys to convey that Washington would be "extremely grateful" if India would agree to send soldiers to Iraq, the daily said.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, however, seems willing to risk American displeasure due to a lack of a domestic consensus on the issue.
New Delhi has been weighing whether to send about 17,000 soldiers to Iraq since a request in early May from the United States, which is hoping to replace its own forces with an international stabilisation force.
While some of prime minister's top aides seemed to support the request, there was resistance from opposition groups and members of Vajpayee's BJP-led coalition government, who argued that Indian troops must work only under the United Nations flag, not a US-British command.
A team of officials from the Pentagon came to New Delhi last month hoping to allay New Delhi's misgivings, and the subject also figured in talks between Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal and his US counterpart in Washington last week.
The Indian foreign ministry had sent a senior official to the Gulf region for consultations with Iraq's neighbours. Media reports said Iran and Syria, who have warm ties with New Delhi, were opposed to New Delhi sending troops.
The Hindu said Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani had favoured sending troops to Iraq, but had soured on the idea, as did Defence Minister George Fernandes and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra.
Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha was undecided while Finance Minister Jaswant Singh favoured deploying troops in Iraq, according to the Hindu report.
That India would have had to foot the estimated 130 million-rupee (three million-dollar) bill to send its soldiers to Iraq also figured in the decision-making process, the report said, as did Washington's inability to draw a roadmap for the future of Iraq.
And with general elections looming next year, the government and ruling BJP realised they stood to lose politically by sending troops for the reconstruction of Iraq after a war that India opposed.
http://media.fastclick.net/w/get.media?t=s&sid=10749&m=3&f=b&v=1.4&c=259&r=http%3A//www.spacewar.com/2003/030713072448.orr2iku6.html&d=f
GO INDIA :lole: :lole: