Return of sovereignty solution to Iraq issue: PM

PM says that a solution to the Iraq issue lay in restoration of sovereignty to the people of the conflict-hit country.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday night that a solution to the Iraq issue lay in restoration of sovereignty to the people of the conflict-hit country.

HT Image

"There is no readymade solution to the issue. The problem can be solved only through return of sovereignty to the people of Iraq," he said at a joint press conference in New Delhi with visiting Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero here.

He was responding to a question as to how the Iraq crisis could be resolved considering that the situation in the country was really bad after the US-led troops came there three years ago.

The Spanish leader said his government does not support presence of foreign troops in Iraq and had thus withdrawn the country's forces from there.

"Iraq should be food for thought. It should be a lesson," he said.

Emphasising that the "most important aspect of Iraq is its future", Zapatero said security has to be accompanied by political vision.