India opposes coalition strikes in Libya

Opposing air strikes by the coalition forces, India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said a few (Western) countries cannot decide the internal affairs of trouble-torn Libya, a day after External Affairs minister SM Krishna expressed similar views on the international crisis.

“No external powers should interfere in it,” Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha, adding that what is happening in Libya is an internal affair of that?country.

“Nobody, not a couple of countries, can take that decision to change a particular regime,” Mukherjee said.

“Whether a regime will change or not will depend on the people of that particular country, not by any external forces,” he said, opposing the action of the coalition forces in Libya.

India, which follows a foreign police of non-alignment, has often criticized as a fence-sitter and following a wishy-washy external affairs policy.

Foreign police experts and political groups in India are also divided on the issue.

The communists in India?have strongly condemned ?the aerial bombardment on Libya by the Nato forces, while the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed the ruling government for playing a fence-sitter with a vague stand despite being on the Security Council of United Nations.

Earlier on Monday, while affirming that India in no way sympathized with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, foreign minster S M Krishna reiterated India?s opposition to use of force to settle the crisis.

?We view with grave concern the ongoing violence, strikes and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Libya. We regret the air strikes that are taking place,? Krishna told reporters.

?India calls upon all parties to abjure violence and the use of threat and force to resolve the differences. I think the need of the hour is cessation of armed conflict,? he added.

Krishna said India believed in a path of peaceful solution through United Nations and other regional forums, rather than use of force.

He pointed that the air strikes are posing a threat to civilians and foreign nationals in the strife-torn African nation.

India was among the five nations that abstained from voting in the UN Security Council resolution that allowed imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya.

The international action in Libya followed after Gaddafi on Saturday? sent a strong message to the West, asking it not to meddle in the internal affairs of his country, while his forces crushed the rebels.