NEW DELHI, 12 March 2003 — Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday reiterated his government’s opposition to any unilateral military action against Iraq and said New Delhi would take all steps to protect its interests in the event of war breaking out.
“We don’t want a war in Iraq, and in case of such a situation our efforts would be to protect the country’s interests,” he said while addressing a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary group here.
Vajpayee’s remarks came a day after India asked its nationals — numbering about 50, including embassy personnel — in Iraq to leave the country.
The government said it has made contingency measures to protect the country’s interests in the event of a war, including plans to evacuate Indian nationals in the region likely to be affected and building up a strategic oil reserve to tide over any disruption in supplies.
At an all-party meet he called Monday night to discuss the Iraq situation, Vajpayee rejected an opposition demand for a Parliament resolution opposing any unilateral military action by the US against that country.
He said considering India’s close relations with both the US and Iraq, it would follow a “middle path”.
Meanwhile, the opposition yesterday once again demanded that Vajpayee make a statement in Parliament on the issue.
In the Lok Sabha the opposition urged Speaker Manohar Joshi to advise the prime minister to make a statement. In the Rajya Sabha opposition leaders were upset Vajpayee had not made a statement as promised by him Monday.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the prime minister would make a statement “at his convenience”.
“The situation is worsening day by day. We will be held responsible for not doing our duty and the government will also be held responsible for not informing the house about its stand (on Iraq),” Congress MP Shivraj Patil, the deputy leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, maintained.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Somnath Chatterjee asked why India was not opposing a war in Iraq.
Prabodh Panda of the Forward Bloc demanded that the Lok Sabha pass a resolution opposing US military action against Baghdad. Vajpayee had rejected the demand Monday at a meeting of the 37 parties represented in Parliament.
V.K. Malhotra, chief whip of the ruling BJP in Parliament, urged the opposition against giving other countries the impression that Indian parliamentarians were not united on the issue.
Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi of the Congress insisted the government express the feeling of the people of India through a parliamentary resolution.
Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar objected to a discussion on the issue, pointing out different parties would express different views.
“Instead, there should be a statement signed by all of us and the prime minister and it should be made available to the world,” Chandra Shekhar.
There was chaos in the Lok Sabha during zero hour when members raised issues relating to the states though they had previously agreed not to do so.
BJP members from Madhya Pradesh wanted to speak about the “unprecedented constitutional crisis” in the state as Chief Minister Digvijay Singh was disobeying directives of the Election Commission.
BJP member Uma Bharti walked out when this was disallowed. Bharti, a former coal minister, belongs to Madhya Pradesh.
Left party MPs from Kerala inquired about the promise made by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani to order a probe into last month’s firing on tribespersons in the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary in Wayanad district.
Kunwar Akhilesh Singh of the Samajwadi Party moved an adjournment motion on the alleged misuse of funds allotted to MPs for development work in their constituencies. Speaker Joshi disallowed this but said he would consult the business advisory committee and allocate time for a discussion on the issue.
Congress member Jaipal Reddy criticized the Gujarat government’s move to conduct a survey of Christian families. “No state government can ask the police forces to conduct a survey by visiting private families,” Reddy maintained.
