India said on Friday that it wanted to see citizens of North Africa and West Asia take their own decisions "free of outside interference" after the United Nations backed bombing raids in Libya. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement followed India's abstention on a UN Security Council resolution late Thursday approving the use of force to protect Libyan rebels.
"The human desire for more freedom and for citizens to decide their own future is universal," Singh told a conference in New Delhi. "As a democracy, we are happy to see our brothers in West Asia and North Africa taking an increasing role in determining their own future," he said.
But "these are decisions for countries and their citizens to take for themselves, free of outside interference or coercion," Singh said. The UN Security Council motion, on which four other members - China, Russia, Germany and Brazil - also abstained, approves a no-fly zone over Libya and authorises "all necessary measures" to protect civilians from Colonel Moamer Kadhafi's forces.
Diplomats have indicated that air strikes from a coalition led by Britain, France and the United States could be imminent. However, the UN resolution rules out sending in foreign ground troops. Singh said that India will do whatever it can to support decisions taken by the people and countries of West Asia and North Africa, adding that India has six million citizens living in those regions as migrant workers.
"As close neighbours and historical friends, we have a major stake in their peaceful, orderly evolution," Singh added. India has traditionally pursued a non-aligned foreign policy, although it has tilted towards the United States since the end of the Cold War.
The country has also been drilling oil blocks in Libya as part of its bid to secure oil and gas assets abroad to fuel its fast-expanding economy. In the past few weeks, India has been engaged in a mammoth evacuation of most of its 18,000 citizens who were working in Libya. Earlier this week Libya's leader Moamer Kadhafi invited Chinese, Russian and Indian firms to produce its oil in a bid to replace Western companies that fled the unrest. India has made no response to the call.
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