The Hindu : National idea in the making in Afghanistan: de Villepin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 14, 2004

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National idea in the making in Afghanistan: de Villepin

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, FEB. 13. The French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, said today that it was important to democratise world politics and suggested a "world democracy" to replace the unilateral world order. He was delivering the Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture.

Mr. de Villepin was careful in describing the actions of the United States as several questions directed at him at the end of the lecture were critical of the inability of the United Nations to prevent an attack on Iraq.

Calling for an international conference on Iraq, he said: "We are fighting to maintain the unity of Iraq." The use of force was not the answer to problems in the world and the defeat in preventing the attack on Iraq was but "one chapter."

Asked by the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, that the U.S. did what it wanted in Iraq as the U.N. looked on, Mr. de Villepin said: "You are saying the same thing I am but in a different way."

Making a distinction between the international sanction for the attack on Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq, he said a "national idea" was in the making in Afghanistan. "We are fighting to maintain the unity of Iraq," he said, reiterating that dealing with global issues was a process. "Standing for principle makes you stronger."

Calling upon his audience to understand the complexity of the situation in Iraq, he said that rather than focussing on the past, the international community should look to the future.

The key factor was the restoration of sovereignty. He said that Iraq's neighbours such as Iran, Syria and Turkey had to be working on the same lines. Nations could win wars, but no country could win peace alone.

In his lecture, Mr. de Villepin said the process of normalisation in Iraq could proceed only with the help of the U.N. "This, of course, implies ensuring the safety of its representatives. But also having the voice of the Security Council fully heard and its recommendations implemented."

"Each crisis is often an echo of the other: who does not see that the impasse that characterises the Israeli-Palestinian peace process undermines the pursuit of a sustainable solution in Iraq?

"The diversity of cultures, religions, traditions and memories is an essential component of the richness of our world. If we are not careful, it could die some day. More than half of the 6,000 languages spoken across the planet are in danger today. Every week one language disappears and with it a given history, an outlook... "

According to him, a lack of respect for what people stand for could nurture the claims of nationalists and fundamentalists. "The more an identity feels threatened, the more it tends to be inward-looking, rejects diversity and finally gives into confrontation. These are the patterns that we saw in action in the post-Cold War confrontations, from the explosion of the Balkans to the genocide in Rwanda."

Referring to India, he said that it was home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. "The religious patchwork of India offers to each minority... the possibility of keeping alive their own religious beliefs in harmony with the Indian identity... it is a constant challenge. Clashes can erupt and bring to the surface underlying questions and doubts. Your country has always managed to overcome them."

On nuclear proliferation, he said that only the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could act as an impartial referee to tackle the issue. "The initiative taken by Germany, the U.K. and France in Iran was launched on the basis of concerns reported by the IAEA.

"Our three countries then decided to propose to the Iranian authorities a plan to put an end to the crisis. Nothing would have been possible without the constant help of the IAEA, which provided the expertise and legitimacy to our action. We fully trust its inspectors to carry out the task entrusted to them."

On the role of the U.N. Security Council, Mr. de Villepin said this instrument alone had the legitimacy to sanction the use of force.

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