By promising to raise supply of crude from four million tones to six million in the face of its other commitments, Iraq has demonstrated its friendly feelings towards India. No other oil-rich country has made a gesture of this magnitude to New Delhi. Even otherwise India has reasons to feel drawn towards Baghdad. For, the regime there is genuinely secular and non-aligned. Both these points are important for New Delhi, the first because the tide of Islamic fundamentalism is sweeping West Asia and a number of governments are finding it expedient to speak in the name of religion, and the second because the Soviet takeover in Afghanistan and the US response to it have exposed the whole region to super-power rivalry on a much bigger scale than it has been exposed ever before. While Iraq has been forthright in its condemnation of the Soviet action in Afghanistan and has openly joined others in censuring it in the UN general assembly and the recent conference of foreign ministers of Muslim countries in Islamabad, India has preferred to use such influence as it possesses to persuade the Kremlin to plan for an early withdrawal of its troops. But this is a difference of emphasis and not of purpose and overall approach. For another, President Saddam Hussain is as anxious to keep the east-west cold war out of the region as is Mrs. Gandhi. Both are agreed that the American decision to arm certain countries, to step up its own naval presence in the Gulf area, and to establish bases can only complicate the problems arising out of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan by polarising the area between pro-US and pro-Soviet governments.
This common approach is not a sudden development. For years, both India and Iraq have been trying to pursue policies which could strengthen their political and economic independence and keep the region free from the control of the superpowers. Under pressure of events both at one time concluded – India in 1971 and Iraq in 1972 – friendship treaties with the Soviet Union. But neither has allowed its pact to infringe its freedom of action. Facts speak for themselves in this regard. All this provides an excellent basis for economic cooperation between the two countries. This has developed fairly well in recent years as Baghdad has sought to diversify its sources of supply for experts, machinery, and technical know-how. But the scope is truly enormous. No effort should be spared to realize the full potential.