NEW DELHI, July 14 (UPI) -- India's decision not to send its troops to Iraq as part of a U.S.-led force may please members of the country's ruling coalition, the opposition and the public, but may affect fledgling ties between New Delhi and Washington.
Despite Washington's repeated requests for a 17,000-strong Indian military contingent in Iraq, New Delhi said no, saying the requisition should have come from the United Nations. The decision, made by the Cabinet Committee on Security Monday, was conveyed to the outgoing U.S. Ambassador to India, Robert D. Blackwill.
"Were there to be an explicit U.N. mandate for the purpose, the Government of India could consider the deployment of our troops in Iraq," India's Foreign Minister Yashwant Singh told reporters while reading a news statement issued following the meeting where the decision was made.
Having opposed the U.S.-British war on Saddam Hussein's Iraq as unjust, it was almost impossible for India's coalition government headed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party to commit its troops to police Iraq.
Opposition to troop deployment was widespread though some of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's top aides has supported the idea.
A parliamentary resolution had condemned the war, saying the action did not have U.N. sanction.
Not only the main opposition Congress party, but also some of the members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance were opposed to sending Indian troops under U.S. command.
Even public opinion was against Indian troop deployment.
Hundreds of messages posted on various Web sites also opposed Indian deployment, saying it was a mess created by the United States, which should handle it.
"Why should we send out troops to Iraq? Has Washington sent troops in Indian Kashmir to fight Pakistani-sponsored rebels," Vinay Malhotra, a newspaper employee, asked.
The government had a tough choice to make.
On the one side was the prospect of billions of dollars in reconstruction contracts in Iraq along with Washington's confidence. And on the other, India's belief that as the world's largest democracy, it must work under the U.N. umbrella.
The government's decision may be an attempt to kill two birds with one stone. It shows the country's continuous commitment and respect to the United Nations as global forum, but it is also aimed at not annoying millions of Muslim voters in the country's upcoming parliamentary elections.
India is home to second-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia.
The United States had formally requested India to deploy its troops to Iraq during Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani's June visit to Washington. A Pentagon team led by Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of Defense, arrived in mid-June to address India's concerns about what role its troops would play, who will pay for the deployment, and under whose command they would serve.
New Delhi said Monday it was willing to send troops in the future if the demand came from the United Nations.
"The Government of India has given careful thought to the question of sending Indian troops to Iraq," the statement said. "Our longer term national interest, our concern for the people of Iraq, our long-standing ties with the Gulf region as a whole, as well as our growing dialogue and strengthened ties with the U.S. have been key elements in this consideration.
"India remains ready to respond to the urgent needs of the Iraqi people for stability, security, political progress and economic reconstruction."
New Delhi said it was ready to contribute to the restoration of infrastructure, medical, health, educational, communications and other civilian needs of the Iraqi people.
"As a concrete gesture of our support to the Iraqi people, we are already planning to set up, jointly with Jordan, a hospital in Najaf in Iraq," Sinha said in the statement.
India has had traditionally strong ties with the Arab world and even during Iraq's isolation following its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, New Delhi maintained close ties with Saddam's government.
Iraq was perhaps the only Muslim country that sided with India in its dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir.
India could have gone for the line that the troop deployment was more for the Iraqi people than because of a U.S. request, but no Iraqi leader had requested an Indian military presence.
The United States said it had hoped New Delhi would have decided otherwise, but said the move would not affect bilateral ties.
"As we have said before, this was a decision for the Government of India to take," A U.S. Embassy spokesman told the semi-official Press Trust of India. "Our position has been clear on this while we had hoped India would take a different decision."
"The transformation of US-India relations will continue as before. India remains an important strategic partner for the U.S.," the official said.
