New Delhi, April 8
The Lok Sabha today unanimously passed a resolution deploring the attack by the United States of America, the United Kingdom and their allies on Iraq and calling for an end to the war.
The resolution passed in Hindi uses the word ‘ninda’ generally translated as ‘condemned’. There was general confusion about the actual meaning of the word since an English translation was not made available in spite of a demand from members.
The resolution moved by the Speaker, Mr Manohar Joshi, the wording of which was accepted by the Opposition and the Government after two days of intense discussion, said the war in Iraq was not acceptable to India, as the military campaign had not received the UN mandate.
"This House demands that war should be immediately stopped and the allied forces should go back. The UN should ensure that the integrity of Iraq is maintained and the reconstruction of Iraq should be under the supervision of the UN", the resolution said.
Mr S. Jaipal Reddy of the Congress said whatever sympathy the USA had earned as a result of the September 11 attack on World Trade Center had transformed into antipathy due to the naked aggression on Iraq.
Mr Somnath Chatterjee of the Communist Party (Marxist) said India needed to be on guard against the US doctrine of pre-emption. The USA was responsible for the liquidation of the League of Nations and was, now, posing a threat to the existence of the UN.
Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra of the Bharatiya Janata Party, said the US aggression on Iraq meant that the UN had become irrelevant and a unipolar world could pose a threat to any country.
The External Affairs Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, said that the Indian foreign policy had always been based on pragmatism. India had always had friendly relations with the Arab world, including Iraq, and the USA, and would like to strengthen both relationships.
He said India had been one of the rare countries seeking the lifting of the sanctions against Iraq.
The Speaker, Mr Joshi had met leaders of the Government and the Opposition as many as five times to arrive at a unanimous resolution.
"This House expresses deep sorrow and sympathy for the people of Iraq," the resolution said.
Following humanitarian appeal by the UN, India had decided to give Rs 100 crore assistance, including 50,000 mt of wheat, to the world body for the war-ravaged people of Iraq, the resolution said.
