India readies to greet new order in Iraq without Saddam

But barely a day after the on-off 48-hour parliamentary debate whether India should ‘‘condemn or deplore’’ the US action, New Delhi seemed ready to deal with both the US and the UN on the reconstruction, as well as delivery of humanitarian aid to Iraq. Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra is preparing to go to Japan next week, followed by a tour of New York (where he will speak at the Council for Foreign Relations) and Washington in mid-May, probably via Moscow, where he is expected to meet a wide spectrum of the leadership in these countries. Iraq is said to be on top of the agenda.

With the fall of Saddam which is expected to change the face of the Arab world, New Delhi knows now is the time to reach out to old friends in old places, as well as engage with new ones.

India’s Ambassador to Kuwait Swash Pavan Singh has in the past few days met General Garner in Kuwait, as well as Barbara Boudine, the US diplomat and Arabist expected to run central Iraq.

Meanwhile, R.M. Abhyankar, MEA’s own Arab hand and secretary in-charge of West Asia, has firmed up his tour of Amman, Damascus and Ankara from April 20-24. He is likely to meet the foreign ministers of Jordan, Syria and Turkey during his trip. Besides its announcement of food aid (50,000 tonnes of wheat worth $8 million), the MEA is now committing medicines, medical supplies, diesel pumps and generators worth another $12 million through the World Food Programme and other UN agencies.

With the Umm Qasr deepwater port ready to receive shipments in another three-four weeks, New Delhi is readying its relief supplies for transportation. Significantly, the MEA is also considering the possibility of sending Indians to work as medics, paramedics, sanitation and water engineers to help in the reconstruction work.

New Delhi is also closely watching the shake-out already taking place in both the Arab and Western world in favour of the US-led regime in Baghdad. The European Union in a meeting yesterday made noises about participation in the economic reconstruction of Iraq, while an Arab League meeting in Kuwait, a couple of days ago, agreed to keep peace.

Western diplomats in the capital said they expected the West to ask ‘‘friendly’’ nations like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to participate in civilian efforts, thereby putting an Arab face to Western initiatives in Iraq.