It was a significant event in Iraq and the Middle East 16 years ago as the former dictator and statesman Saddam Hussein was executed after being convicted by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for crimes against Humanity. Many among the social media generation are highly unfamiliar with the dead Iraqi leader, and lesser about his ties with India.
Cultural interaction and economic trade between Indus Valley and Mesopotamia dates back to 1800 BCE.
India and Iraq Relations
Iraq was one of the few countries in the Middle East which established Diplomatic relations with India after the latter’s Independence in 1947.
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Relations between modern India and Iraq were created and cemented through the 1952 Treaty of Friendship.
Researcher David Brewster stated, “Through the 1970s and 80s India had a close security relationship with Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime in Iraq.”
“India found a friend in the secular and socialist-leaning regime in Iraq, which had a much more flexible stance (towards India) than other conservative Middle East nations,” he wrote.
Iraq maintained its neutrality throughout the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, and India was among the first to recognise the Baath Party-led government. However, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 — which resulted in the establishment of Bangladesh — Iraq stood with the other Gulf States in favour of Pakistan against India.
Despite this, Iraq and India kept their close economic and military relations. More than 120 Iraqi MiG-21 pilots were being trained by the Indian Air Force at the start of the 1980s.
When the Indian Army dispatched training teams and the Indian Navy built a naval academy in Basra, the security cooperation was strengthened. Throughout the Iran-Iraq War, India remained a significant military supporter of Iraq. Through a complex tripartite agreement involving France, India supplied technical help to the Iraqi Air Force in addition to training.
Trade and business between the two countries experienced a sharp drop as a result of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War.
Nuclear Tests and Kashmir Issue
In response to India’s tests of five nuclear weapons on May 11 and May 13, 1998, Iraq backed India’s right to conduct nuclear tests.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had supported India on the Kashmir issue against Pakistan in 2002.
As per a 2002 TOI report, “Iraqi President Saddam Hussein…conveyed his principled and unwavering support to India on the Kashmir issue and said Iraq greatly values its relationship.”
Saddam Hussein and Indira Gandhi
In a 2003 interview with The Hindustan Times, the former Indian diplomat Romesh Bhandari recalled a conversation he had with Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein while serving as India’s Ambassador to Baghdad. Bhandari asserted that Hussein really admired and held former Indian PM Indira Gandhi in high regard.
In 1975, Indira Gandhi visited Iraq — in the wake of the Emergency in India— and met the ruler Saddam Hussein. According to several accounts, Mrs Gandhi’s bag was taken by Saddam Hussein when she arrived.
It is often claimed that Saddam offered Indira Gandhi a permanent residence in Baghdad when she lost her Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in the 1977 elections. There were numerous rumours that Indira Gandhi gave the names Uday and Qusay to Saddam Hussein’s sons.
India had asserted that the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 lacked legality due to discord in the UN Security Council and referenced sources claiming that military action was avoidable.
Saddam Hussien and his legacy is one of the most controversial and disputed topics in history but looking from an Indian perspective — a somewhat recent trend pursued by the government in foreign matters — the Iraqi leader and his decisions were largely beneficial for India.
