5 days before the end of the UN Lebanon mandate- Indian reactions.

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Thursday July 27, 2006 02:13 by io

By now most western Europeans with fair to middling interest in current affairs know that the UN observers in southern Lebanon, observed in time that Israeli artillery shells were landing close to their position. Ireland which prides itself on leading the way in UNIFIL operations knows how many phone calls were made - 10. We also all pride ourselves on knowing the mandate finishes next Monday.
Most of the UN observers stationed with UNIFIL at that observer post were Indian, though those killed weren't. The first reports to hit Indian newswatchers that their own soldiers were in the line of fire came from the BBC who had their own team "observing" in the same little zone. This is how things work :- FINUL, the UN, the BBC, the government & army of Lebanon, the government & army of Israel, and even Hezbollah exchange phone numbers. They tell each other where they are. So "little accidents" like "friendly fire" don't happen. Otherwise indeed the whole idea of "UN peace-keeping" which started 50 years ago with the thereafter Nobel peace laureate, former prime minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson, would fall apart at the seams. So I thought I'd give you a round-up of Indian media reaction since as we all realise the UNIFIL mandate expires next Monday :-

(we did all realise that didn't we???????????)
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from "New Delhi"
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1043927

India has remained strangely silent about Israel’s bombing of a UN post in South Lebanon, where four soldiers were killed. Washing its hands off the incident, foreign office spokesman Navtej Sarna said “The UN Secretary General has already protested. India does not come into the picture.” Nor has India made any noise about the injury to one of its soldiers deployed in Lebanon, who was hurt in the early days of Israeli air strikes. The Indian soldier from the 4 Sikh regiment, was hurt by a shrapnel and is recovering. The soldier was part of the 672, odd Indian military personnel serving in Lebanon under the UN flag. India and Ghana are the two countries contributing troops for deployment to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). “All UNIFIL positions are still being manned and troops are taking safety precautions. The freedom of movement of the UNIFIL troops has, however, been curtailed due to close proximity to area of confrontation,’’ Sarna said.

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from "the Hindu"
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200607270308.htm

"Indian peacekeepers in Lebanon are likely to stay there for up to three months, officials said today amid growing concerns here about their safety in view of the death of four international observers in an Israeli attack on a UN post there. The mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), under which 672 Indian troops are deployed there, is due to expire on Monday next.
But there are indications that the mandate of UNIFIL, which was deployed in Lebanon in 1978, will be extended by upto three months, officials said here.
Questions are being raised over the continuity of UNIFIL in the wake of a virtually all-out war launched by Israel after Hizbullah militia kidnapped its two soldiers nearly a fortnight back.
An Indian peacekeeper was injured more than a week ago in an Israeli action and four UN observers of other nationalities were killed in a bombardment on Wednesday."