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THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, should be complimented for telling the nation and the world loud and clear that New Delhi will not tolerate any external attempt to get rid of the Iraqi leader, Mr Saddam Hussain, for the simple reason that India does not believe in, and will never aid and abet, external interference in the internal affairs of nations, even if some of those nations are ruled by tyrants.

The second noteworthy point made by the Prime Minister in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday was that if any action at all is contemplated against Mr Hussain, it should be crafted by none other than the UN which, in a sense, reflects the collective will of nations.

In other words, what the two points taken together boils down to is that, in the normal course of things, external interference in the affairs of a nation should be shunned religiously. But if the international community feels, through the UN, that some action needs to be taken to rein in the policies of a country (whether a UN member or otherwise), then such action can be taken only after the set procedures of the world body are strictly followed.

To what extent should considerations of "realpolitik" be allowed to play in shaping New Delhi's response to the rapidly-evolving Iraq situation? (Here, "realpolitik" obviously refers to the advantages than can be derived by economically and diplomatically "aligning" oneself with the world's only super-power.) The question isimportant because, while India needs to extract every bit of economic assistance it can from the world at large in its quest to develop as quickly as possible, it is equally important to subscribe to, and be seen to subscribe to, a clutch of fundamental principles of democracy and governance which would reflect faithfully the tenets on which the republic's Constitution is based.

In the present international scenario it is clear that the task of reconciling the two requirements of Indian state policy has become a delicate task. In fact, it is, perhaps, safe to say that New Delhi is currently pursuing both policy objectives to the best of its ability although it is uncertain whether this dual-policy will reap any harvest for the nation in the long run, particularly in the event of a military strike by the Washington-coalition.

The scenario in the event of hostilities breaking out in West Asia may be that, while New Delhi will not hesitate to add its voice to those opposing the conflict, it will try, to the best of its ability and entirely covertly, to meet Washington's wishes as far as the prosecution of the war is concerned. This will, of course, be very difficult for the Indian intelligentsia to stomach, but then everyone will agree that the complexities of upholding the national interest in a potentially hostile international environment are slightly more complex to handle than the course of an argument on the debating floor.

Ranabir Ray Choudhury

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