M A I N   N E W S

No decision yet on troops to Iraq, says Advani
P.P.S. Gill
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 11
Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani said today that there was no decision yet on sending Indian troops to Iraq. Though this issue had come up during his meeting with outgoing US Ambassador, Robert Blackwill, in New Delhi on Thursday, no commitment on sending the troops was given to him.

This was stated by Mr Advani in an exclusive interview to TNS at Punjab Raj Bhavan here today. He was in Chandigarh to inaugurate a three-day training camp for BJP MLAs from five states.

The US is keen that India send its troops to the volatile northern Kurdish-dominated area for “stabilisation and reconstruction’’, as per the UN Resolution. This request was also made by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to Mr Advani, when he had visited the UK from June 15 to 18.

India has repeatedly clarified its stand on dispatching troops to Iraq, saying it was a “strategic and tactical” decision and India would first assess the situation with Iraq’s neighbours and also evolve a national consensus before committing itself to the US-UK request. India believed that not sending troops would not hit Indo-US relations.

The Deputy Prime Minister did not comment on several issues, including Ayodhya or Punjab or the Congress Shivir in Shimla. When asked if the cold war had set in between the Akalis and the NDA, he replied, “I have the most warm and best of relations with Badal Sahib. He is coming to see me today”.

Later, Mr Parkash Singh Badal and the BJP State President, Mr Brij Lal Rinwa, met Mr Advani and presented him a joint memorandum.

He did not give his reaction to the Congress outburst against the NDA at Shimla. He also refused to be drawn into any controversy. On Ayodhya, all he said was: “As the President of the party, I used to speak out. Even now I can explain what I feel. But I am in a position where I am more interested in finding solutions rather than making comments. I am answerable to the nation not just my party”.

On Pakistan, Mr Advani said there was not much change in the situation on the ground. Cross-border terrorism was continuing. Pakistan was keen to see what satisfied their patrons in Washington. “The US is not sold on Pakistan. It is sold on Gen. Musharraf, in a negative way”. The real worry of the US was what would happen if Musharraf goes and someone else, say a Mullah, took over.” India does not agree with this assessment of the US.

India was prepared for talks with Pakistan on all issues, including Kashmir. But Pakistan believed in keeping “tension and hostility alive” because that was as much Pakistan’s necessity to maintain its unity, as government strategy.

Mr Advani said, China was now in a “mood of confidence” and having overtaken India, it could afford to be more liberal towards it. China is a hard bargainer. On Sikkim, it was hesitant to commit and comment. Since the 1962 Indo-China war, there was not much change on the border. China was retaining the territory it had captured or controlled. Despite disagreements on the border issue, relations between the two were now set on a new course.