Iraq: Delhi gets a US call again

Hours after US president George Bush decided to cut American losses in Iraq and go to the United Nations to seek approval for a new resoluti...

Hours after US president George Bush decided to cut American losses in Iraq and go to the United Nations to seek approval for a new resolution that would attract other countries to keep the peace in that country, US charge d8217;affaires in India Robert Blake met Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal in the Capital today.

Highly placed sources in New Delhi admitted that India8217;s Permanent Representative to the UN Vijay Nambiar had 8216;8216;seen the draft8217;8217; of a new UN resolution that the Americans had been working on. But they were unwilling to comment on the conclusions of such an Indo-US interaction.

FRANCE, GERMANY SAY NO, RUSSIA SAYS 8216;MAYBE8217;
DRESDEN: France and Germany on Thursday rejected US proposals for a UN resolution enlisting international help in Iraq, arguing it did not cede sufficient power quickly enough to Iraqis or the UN. Meanwhile, Russia Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia may send peacekeepers to Iraq as part of an international force.

The sources said the US had decided to open up, realising the need to get the international community, under a larger UN umbrella, involved in Iraq, especially after the assassinations of UN special envoy to Iraq Sergio de Mello and a leading Shia cleric in Najaf.

The US, the sources maintained, was still 8216;8216;extremely interested8217;8217; in a division-level force from India nearly 20,000 troops. But American diplomats were actively talking to Turkey and Bangladesh to send troops to Iraq as well.

Interestingly, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee will be spending nearly four days on an official visit to Turkey before he flies off to attend the UN General Assembly in New York in the middle of the month. The sources pointed out that the Cabinet Committee on Security had asked for an 8216;8216;explicit UN mandate8217;8217; before India could send troops to keep the peace in Iraq, and that it was waiting to see that the US would widen the ambit in Baghdad to allow a 8216;8216;real transfer of political authority8217;8217; from US representative Paul Bremer to an Iraqi Cabinet that the Americans were proposing beyond the existing Iraqi Governing Council.

They reiterated that India would only send troops to Iraq if such a transfer of political authority took place. In short, if Paul Bremer relinquished control of the Iraqi political decision-making to the new Cabinet in Iraq, then New Delhi would consider that the 8216;8216;occupying powers8217;8217; 8212; the US, UK and a handful of European nations 8212; were seriously in the business of enlarging command and control.

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The British, who have taken over the presidency of the Security Council in September 8212; the US will take charge in October 8212; are expected to bring about a sea-change in the way the international authority looks at Iraq.

Sources here conceded that India would be 8216;8216;definitely interested8217;8217; in participating in a UN-mandated force in Iraq even if it were to be headed by an American general. The sources said that a bifurcation of authority was possible, with the coalition forces US-UK working simultaneously with a UN force.

It is not clear whether India is suggesting 8216;8216;any of the language8217;8217; for a new US resolution at the UN. 8216;8216;India is carefully watching what the Americans are doing,8217;8217; the sources said, pointing out that the next few days rather than weeks were going to be crucial.