LONDON — After seven long years, the Indian government has decided that the time has come to make its presence felt in Iraq by naming an envoy to the country. The previous ambassador to Iraq was withdrawn in 2004 when the security situation in the country was spiraling out of control.
Even as the situation stabilized in Iraq with largely peaceful elections last year and the U.S. decided to withdraw its forces completely by the end of this year, New Delhi took its time to come to terms with the rapidly changing ground realities. After all, when it comes to the Middle East, inaction is the preferred mode of action of the Indian foreign policy establishment.
India and Iraq have enjoyed long- standing political and cultural ties rooted in millenniums-old civilizations. Iraq had emerged as one of India's closest allies in the Middle East by the 1970s. Not surprisingly, therefore, New Delhi not only opposed the use of force against Iraq in 1991 but also vehemently denounced the imposition of U.N. sanctions on Saddam Hussein's regime.