The Hindu : War may not be short, say experts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 12, 2003

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War may not be short, say experts

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI March 11 . The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs was told by independent experts today that the American war on Iraq might not be a short one.

The meeting was presided over by Prof. Krishna Bose and K.N. Bakshi, J.N. Dixit, Hamid Ansari and P.M.S. Malik (all former diplomats), Bibek Debroy (economist) and Afsar Karim (former General) presented their points of view.

There was a general consensus among the 26 MPs at the meeting that action against Iraq must be taken by the U.N. Security Council and the multilateral route be respected.

The Committee, which saw a free exchange of views, was told that the economic impact of the war on India would be great and was likely to hit the growth rate. If the U.S. was to invade Iraq, then it would be a long war, some of the experts told the MPs. There was also a reference to the possible increase in oil prices and its impact on India. The idea behind calling the experts was to obtain a non-official perception of the impact and consequences of a possible war against Iraq.

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