NEW DELHI, 9 March 2003 — Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday said all attempts should be made to avert a war in the Gulf as Iraq was taking steps to destroy its weapons of mass destruction.

“War clouds are hovering in the horizon,” Vajpayee told women journalists at a meeting to commemorate International Women’s Day in the Indian capital. “You never know when the war begins but till the last moment we should try to avoid it.”

“Iraq is also ready to destroy its weapons. Keeping this in mind, more efforts should be made to avert a war,” he said.

Earlier yesterday, Vajpayee’s deputy Lal Krishna Advani said any action against Iraq should come from the United Nations and urged Baghdad to comply with UN resolutions on disarmament. Advani, speaking to journalists in the central Indian town of Tekampur, said India was “concerned” about the situation in Iraq and about the millions of Indians employed in the Gulf.

“We would not like war there. We would like Iraq to comply with UN resolutions. If any action is necessary against Iraq then the UN should authorize it,” said Advani, quoted by the United News of India agency.

Advani’s comments came two days ahead of an all-party meeting called by Vajpayee to form a political consensus on a possible US-led military campaign against Iraq.

The meeting in New Delhi was announced after the opposition criticized the Hindu fundamenalist-led coalition government for its unclear Iraq policy.

The government has repeatedly spoken against any unilateral US attack on Iraq but called on Baghdad to come clean on its weapons programs — roughly the same stand as the main opposition Congress party.

Meanwhile, political parties are expected to close ranks in their opposition to any unilateral military action by the US against Iraq at the meeting tomorrow.

Most of the parties represented in Parliament are expected to attend the meet, to be chaired by Prime Minister Vajpayee.

“We support the government stand against any military action. There is no question of any differences,” K. Natwar Singh, a senior leader of the main opposition Congress who heads the party’s foreign policy cell, said.

He said Congress President Sonia Gandhi would attend the meeting.

However, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader Abani Ray accused the government of going soft on the US for threatening Iraq and said his party would urge New Delhi to come out “boldly” against any war.

“It will be better for the government’s image to speak against war in view of our close relations with Iraq. We are with the people of Iraq. We ask the people of India to be with the people of Iraq,” Ray said.