India won't send troops to Iraq even with UN mandate
AFP, New Delhi
India will not send troops to Iraq even if the United Nations mandates multinational peacekeeping operations in the strife-torn country, the Indian media reported yesterday. Quoting top government sources, newspapers said the line New Delhi is now pushing is that it cannot spare any of its million-strong army for peacekeeping operations due to security threats within the country and on its borders. However, the real reason, the reports said, was that national elections are due in India by October 2004 and the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) believes it would be politically disastrous if any Indian soldier died in Iraq.
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