External forces cannot decide regime change: India

New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) India on Tuesday came out with a
strong message that "external powers" cannot decide the regime
change in Libya after a strong demand was made in the Lok
Sabha (Lower House of the Indian Parliament) that the House
unanimously pass a resolution condemning the allied air
strikes on that country.
The House saw an impromptu discussion on the issue
when Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav raised it with
almost all members ranging from the Left to the Bhartiya Janta
Party condemning the air strikes on Libya by the US-led allied
forces.
At the same time, they expressed their support to
those striving for democracy in the North African oil-rich
nation ruled for over four decades by Col. Muammar Gaddafi.
"The Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) has
to condemn the attack on Libya. Innocent civilians have been
killed and Parliament cannot keep quiet," Yadav said.
Responding to the concerns expressed by members,
Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee said the government has
already expressed its unhappiness over the intervention of
allied countries against Libya.
"No external powers should interfere in it.... What is
happening in Libya is an internal affair of that country," he
said.
"Nobody, no two or three countries can take a decision
to change a particular regime in a third country," 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.
India has regretted the air strikes by the US-led
coalition forces in Libya and called upon all the parties to
abjure use of force and resolve the differences through
peaceful means.
An External Affairs Ministry statement on Sunday said
India hoped that the air strikes would not harm innocent
civilians, foreign nationals and diplomatic missions and their
personnel, who are still in Libya.
Participating in the discussion, Basudeb Acharia of
Communist Party of India-Marxist(CPI-M) said the House should
condemn the brutal attack on Libya and recalled that the Lok
Sabha (Lower House of the Indian Parliament) had deplored the
aggression of Iraq by the United States.
He, as also Gurudas Dasgupta of Communist Party of
India (CPI), appreciated the stand taken by the Indian
Government on Libya, but said it was not enough.
"In the name of unseating Gadaffi, thousands of
innocent Libyans are being killed in the NATO bombings.
Another Iraq and another Afghanistan is being created,"
Dasgupta said.
"We are against Gadaffi but do not believe in NATO
bombings. It is a war for oil," he said.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Convenor Sharad
Yadav termed the attacks on Libya as a serious matter and
wanted India to take a strong position against it.
Associating with the views expressed by the members,
Yashwant Sinha of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) supported a
unanimous resolution of the House condemning the external
aggression against Libya.
"We are extremely concerned about what is happening in
Libya. We are completely with the democratic forces struggling
against an authoritarian regime. We are against any military
intervention to enforce regime change," Sinha said calling for
an immediate ceasefire.
Mehboob Beg of Jammu Kashmir National Conference
appreciated the stand taken by the government and pitched for
a middle path to provide succor to the Libyan people.
"America's coercive tactics have been increasing over
the years. It treats the United Nations Security Council as
its pet cat," another Member of Parliament from Jammu Kashmir
National Conference Sharifuddin Shariq said.
Ratan Singh Ajnala of Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) and
Dara Singh Chauhan Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) said their
parties associated with the views expressed by the members,
while Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (Rashtriya Janata Dal) said
Parliament should not be a mute spectator.
Sudip Bandopadhyay (Trinamool Congress) said his party
totally appreciated the stand taken by the government which
has risen to the occasion by taking a firm position against
the US.
Bhratruhari Mahtab (Biju Janata Dal) noted that Libya
was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and was "not Egypt".
He said India has done the proper thing by abstaining
from voting in favour of the resolution at the United Nations
Security Council.
E T Mohammed Basheer (Muslim League) alleged that the
US was trying to create confusion in the Arab world.
Nama Nageshwara Rao (Telugu Desam Party) said a strong
message should be sent by the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian
Parliament) against the action of the allied forces.
The UN Security Council had last week adopted a
resolution, calling for an immediate ceasefire and authorised
all necessary measures for protecting civilians in Libya from
Gaddafi's forces.
On Saturday, French jets fired the first shots in
'Operation Odyssey Dawn', the biggest international military
intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of
Iraq, destroying tanks and armoured vehicles in eastern Libya.
They were joined by the US and the UK who fired over
110 Tomahawk missiles from American and British ships and
submarines, hitting Libyan air and missile defence targets in
the capital Tripoli and along the Mediterranean coast.