Tuesday, Oct 05, 2004
India expected to help with Iraq elections: Hoon
By Sandeep Dikshit
NEW DELHI, OCT. 4. While making it clear that it was not pushing any agenda, Britain today said the international community expected India to assist Iraq in holding elections.
"I would not be asking India for anything for these elections. But if asked, I will say, on behalf of the United Nations, that India should help with those elections in whatever form it chooses to give.
Its assistance would be extremely welcome in view of its long and distinguished history," the British Defence Minister, Geoff Hoon, told a group of reporters here today.
Mr. Hoon made it clear that the subject of sending Indian troops to Iraq would not come up during his interaction with his Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee, whom he will be meeting for the first time.
"I guarantee you I am not here to ask India to deploy troops in Iraq. With elections coming up, it is also not my responsibility to tell India in any way at all how it should or should not participate."
But he conceded that the situation in Iraq would come up for discussions.
"I am sure we will review the situation in Iraq. When I make such visits, my counterparts are interested in knowing how things are going in Iraq particularly for the British armed forces posted in the southern part of the country. The situation there is very different from in and around Baghdad, which perhaps inevitably gets into the newspaper headlines. But it doesn't give people the feeling of [the] progress that is being made. Not underestimating the security problems we have had, the situation, generally speaking, has been calmer," he observed.
Nepal issue
Another country that would be discussed with Mr. Mukherjee on Wednesday was Nepal. Though both countries source troops from Nepal, Britain would prefer to be guided by India's security concerns while making efforts to guide Kathmandu in improving the situation caused by the Maoist insurgency.
"Both countries have an interest in the problem and we will be looking if we can help in anyway. I recognise that the matter is of greater concern to India. It will be one of the issues that will arise in the meeting with Mr. Mukherjee and we will be looking to see if we can act in concert. We are not anywhere near acting militarily but we can do it politically. I expect India to set out its views. We can explore areas where we can help. We would be guided by what suits India the best."
Calling it a "particularly good time for improving bilateral relations," Mr. Hoon denied that he had come to New Delhi with a "suitcase full of projects or products" but could mention areas in which Britain could further assist India militarily.
He termed the recently-concluded multi-billion pound deal for selling and eventually manufacturing in India, British advanced jet trainers (AJT), an "excellent model" for future cooperation in the military equipment area. While newspaper headlines tend to concentrate on equipment deals, Mr. Hoon felt a great deal could be done to improve bilateral military ties in view of the fact that "decent, democratic, civilized counties" like India and the U.K. should cooperate and work together to counter terrorist threats.
The British Defence Minister is scheduled to visit Islamabad tomorrow where he will meet the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, and then return to New Delhi for discussions with Mr. Mukherjee. He said his Pakistan visit served "in a way the same purpose," which is to maintain "important" relationships on the defence side, and discuss practical problems that impede closer ties.
Copyright © 2004, The Hindu.