PM says US invasion of Iraq a mistake
Washington: In a candid submission made on the American soil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the 2003 US invasion of Iraq was a ''mistake''.
Answering questions after his address at the National Press Club here, he said, ''it was our sincere view that it (invasion of Iraq) was a mistake but it is now a thing of the past and we must look to the future.''
Singh said India would like democratic institutions to take deeper roots in Iraq and New Delhi believed it had a contribution to make in this effort. The Prime Minister said he had written to his Iraqi counterpart immediately after the latter's elections that India would like to work with the government and render assistance in the reconstruction work and the economic development of the war-torn country.
Singh is perhaps the first foreign leader to criticise the US invasion of Iraq while being in Washington. His statement drew a thunderous applause from senior American journalist.