Author: Report by Vasant Arora
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: September 30, 2002
Indian Finance Minister Jaswant
Singh discussed the Iraq issue with US Secretary of State Colin Powell
and later said cryptically that pre-emption was not the sole prerogative
of any one country.
"Pre-emption is not the sole prerogative
of any one country," Singh told newsmen on Sunday night after a meeting
with Powell with whom he had developed a close rapport as External Affairs
Minister during which they discussed the 'evolving situation' in Iraq.
Singh explained that inherent in
deterrence was prevention. "What is the difference between pre-emption
and deterrence?" he raised the question and referred to Article 51 of UN
charter which talks of the right to self-defence.
"At one level, you have a situation
in which nothing revolutionary or new is being cited. What is being
asserted here is very inherent in the Article 51 which applied to all states
that subscribe to the UN Charter," Singh said. "This was complex
academic discussion," he said.
Singh was referring to the ongoing
debate in the US over the case being built by administration hawks for
an attack on Iraq. Section of the administration led by Vice President
Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld favour a pre-emptive
strike on Baghdad for its perceived refusal to open up its facilities to
UIN weapons inspectors.
This policy of pre-emption and unilateralism
is being opposed as a 'dangerous doctrine' by people in the administration
and Congress, who say it could set precedents for attack by other countries
against their rivals, 'among others India'.
Singh, who participated in the annual
meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund that ended on
Sunday night also met Richard Haass, director of Policy Planning in the
State Department. Singh said, "There is a situation in Iraq where
the US congress is contemplating a resolution on Iraq. A resolution
has also been contemplated by the UN Security Council.
