Christian Message Boards: China, India Decry Plan to Strike Iraq(looks like Saddam's got a lot of buddies!)

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China, India Decry Plan to Strike Iraq

August 28, 2002 04:02 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and India, the world's two most populous countries, stressed their opposition to the use of force against Iraq on Wednesday without mentioning the United States by name.

The reaction from the two Asian powerhouses, which together account for more a third of the world's population, was the strongest in Asia which has broadly backed the U.S.-led war on terror.

Vice President Dick Cheney this week laid out the case for pre-emptive action against Iraq, warning of the danger of weapons of mass destruction falling into the wrong hands and bringing the prospect of war ever nearer.

"Using force or threats of force is unhelpful in solving the Iraq issue and will increase regional instability and tensions," China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan as saying in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Naji Sabri in Beijing.

"The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq should also be respected."

China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, said it wanted Baghdad to implement U.N. resolutions calling for weapons inspections and that it would play a "positive role" in trying to ease tensions.

President Bush has named Iraq, Iran and North Korea as forming an "axis of evil" promoting terrorism. Iraq has refused to allow weapons inspectors into the country since a U.S.-British bombing campaign in December 1998.

India, a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, said it also strongly opposed military action against Iraq.

Ties between India and the United States have warmed in recent years, but New Delhi said it could not accept the use of force against any nation.

"We are very clear that there should be no armed action against any country, more particularly with the avowed purpose of changing a regime," External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters this week.

"POLICY NOT GOING TO CHANGE"

A foreign ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday there was no change in India's stand on Iraq.

"There is a consistency in our policy, and it is not going to change in the next few days or weeks," he said. India is home to one of the world's largest Muslim populations.

There was no immediate reaction from Muslim Pakistan, a key U.S. ally since the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York, or from mostly Muslim Malaysia.

Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, said it was "not in the habit" of commenting on hypothetical situations.

"Our position is in line with the U.N. perspective," foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said. "Which means that we agree on peaceful settlements in dealing with disputes."

Australia has expressed its support for any possible U.S. strike on Iraq but emphasized that a diplomatic solution would be better.

"However we think it is more probable than not that the U.S. will be forced to take action and any request for Australian involvement will be considered when it is received," a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer told Reuters.

In Japan, a government advisory panel said this week the country should be cautious in deciding whether to back a U.S. attack on Iraq.

Japan, pilloried for its inaction during the last Gulf War, is a key U.S. ally but is hobbled by a pacifist constitution and concerned about the effect of military action on its oil supplies.

But with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage visiting Tokyo from Tuesday, Japan may find itself pressed to consider the issue sooner rather than later.

http://reuters.com/news_article.jht...StoryID=1380423