IRAQ: India Slams U.S. Action, but Hopes for Reconstruction Deals

By Ranjit Devraj Reprint | | Print |

Ranjit Devraj

NEW DELHI, Apr 21 2003 (IPS) - India may have passed a resolution in Parliament condemning the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, but still hopes to recover two billion U.S. dollars worth of debt owed by the Saddam Hussein government – and even bag a few reconstruction subcontracts.

Before launching the war in March, Washington canvassed India’s support for the war on Iraq, offering in return ”fundamental roles” in the physical reconstruction of Iraq as well as in the task of constructing a civil society there.

U.S. Ambassador in India Robert Blackwill even harped on India’s long-term ties with Iraq, which he said he was confident would make this country welcome in a situation where ”not every country will be welcomed”.

But several Indian leaders have expressed unhappiness with what is seen as an ”illegal” military action and reconstruction activity that bypasses or marginalises the role of the United Nations.

India’s outspoken Defence Minister George Fernandes has criticised reconstruction activity as a ”feast for vultures” and said the destruction could have been avoided in the first place.

On Monday, Blackwill, considered to be a close personal friend of U.S. President George W Bush, suddenly announced his resignation as ambassador to India. It gave rise to speculation that his efforts at getting India to back Washington’s war on Iraq have not been particularly successful.

Officially, India, which seeks Washington’s support in containing ”cross-border terrorism” carried out in the disputed territory of Kashmir by militant groups operating from neighbouring Pakistan, has taken care to tone down its disapproval of regime change in Iraq effected through military force.

But under pressure from opposition groups led by the powerful Congress party and by a series of peace demonstrations and boycotts of U.S. and British goods, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was forced to allow passage of a resolution that condemned the war on the day before the fall of Baghdad.

India’s former foreign secretary and commentator on diplomatic affairs, G Parthasarathy, said the parliamentary resolution could fetch India no diplomatic gains but serve as an irritant in Indo-U.S. relations.

”Unfortunately, populism rules the roost in political, economic, social, foreign and national security polices,” writes K Subrahmanyam, convenor of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) in an editorial page article on Monday.

Subrahmanyam said India would have done better to follow the example of China which ” appears to have decided to deal with the challenges of the times with sophisticated realpolitik and knowledge-based modernisation”.

A known hawk, Subrahmanyam, pointed out that ”countries which opposed the Iraq war are trying to placate Washington after its victorious conclusion”.

India is now depending mostly on sheer cost-competitiveness to be able to gain a slice of the estimated 300 billion U.S. dollars worth of reconstruction activity that will be parceled out through subcontracting and outsourcing by large U.S. companies .

”We expect half of the activity or about 150 billion dollars worth to be in subcontracts and Indian companies can hope to get up to 15 billion dollars worth of the business,” said Amit Mitra, secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

India’s Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha, who resisted the parliamentary resolution and has been critical of the Saddam Hussein regime, said that despite political differences, Washington could not bypass India.

"We (India and the U.S.) have a difference of opinion. But no single issue ever defines the totality of relationships between countries,” Sinha said.

But India would still prefer to see reconstruction work in Iraq held under the auspices of the United Nations rather than under U.S.-British occupation. ”We are already in touch with relevant U.N. agencies,” said India’s foreign secretary Kanwar Sibal.

India’s pro-active approach to reconstruction in Iraq can be seen form the fact that it has already reopened its embassy in Iraq and announced 20 million dollars worth of aid as a first step.

Before the first Gulf war, nearly 30,000 Indian workers were employed in the Gulf and India imported 30 percent of its crude requirements from Iraq on highly favourable terms.

But R.M. Abhyankar, secretary in the external affairs ministry and chairman of India’s crisis management committee on the Iraq war, said once the war over there would be huge employment opportunities for Indian doctors, engineers, nurses, computer professionals and semi-skilled workers.

But Abhyankar said it would be a pity if ”the old Mesopotamia was seen purely in terms of rupees and dollars”.

Abhyankar, who recently led an Indian delegation to Washington to negotiate India’s role in reconstruction work, said relations between India and Iraq have stretched several thousand years to the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia and Harappa and Mohenjo Daro sites, as seen by artifacts dug up at these sites.