July 30, 1999
New Delhi

In response to a question, the Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said that India has traditionally had good relations with Iraq based on long standing people-to-people contacts. While we remain concerned at the suffering of the Iraqi people, we strictly adhere to all relevant UN resolutions regarding Iraq. During his visit to Iraq for the second meeting of the Indo-Iraqi Joint Commission, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri V.K. Ramamurthy reiterated that India adheres to UN resolutions on Iraq and its cooperation with Iraq would be in accordance with these resolutions.

India has extended a credit line of US $ 25 million to Iraq for the supply of humanitarian goods within the framework of relevant UN resolutions. Each supply under the credit is subject to prior approval of the Sanctions Committee in accordance with prescribed procedures of the UN. It is understood that this line of credit is no different from similar agreements signed by several other countries with Iraq.