An External Affairs Ministry spokesman has been quoted as having said that while India is in touch with other countries it does not propose to take the initiative in bringing about a ceasefire between Iraq and Iran. In view of New Delhi’s friendly relations with both, this equivocation might have been understandable only if the war was going so overwhelmingly in favour of one country that the other had little choice but to accept defeat. For in that case India would have incurred the displeasure of the would-be victorious power without significantly promoting the prospects of an early cessation of hostilities. But this is not the situation. While Iraq cannot hope to win the war decisively enough to compel the other side to accept peace on its terms, Iran is not even thinking of such a possibility.
And that is not all. Both governments seem to be willing to recognise the reality. Iraq has sent emissaries to New Delhi and Ankara, among other capitals, to request them to mediate with Iran. Members of the Iranian Majlis have asked Muslim and non-aligned countries to put pressure on Iraq to end the invasion of their country. Except for King Hussein who seems to think that he has a great deal to gain out of his support for Iraq, other countries friendly to Baghdad are anxious that the war ends soon. As reported in the adjoining columns, the Saudi rulers have in fact been so nervous lest the war engulfs them that they have sought US military help which they hesitated to accept all this time. It is also a reasonable inference that the United States has offered military assistance to other Gulf countries which feel threatened – obviously by Iran – at their request.
There are any number of reasons why India cannot be a mere spectator. It has a great stake in the early resumption of oil exports by both Iraq and Iran and in the containment of the potentially explosive consequences of the war. Its economy will suffer if oil shortages develop and prices skyrocket and if economic development in the Gulf countries slows down, leading to the loss of jobs by hundreds of thousands of Indians whose foreign exchange earnings have once again become crucial for the country. By comparison, it had almost no stake in the Korean and the Indo-China wars or for that matter in China’s admission to the United Nations in the ‘fifties, against America’s wishes. Yet it is hardly necessary to recall the efforts Mr. Nehru made to promote the resolution of these problems. As it happens, the Islamic Conference is badly split and Western motives are suspect in Iran. This means that India is well placed to try to mediate between the belligerents. It may not succeed. But, it will have the satisfaction of having done all in its power to end a very dangerous war. Surely the possibility of failure cannot justify passivity on its part.