But the government headed by V.P. Singh went overboard. Egged on by a powerful segment of the intelligentsia, India gave the impressions that it was siding with Baghdad over the blatant aggression. Indeed a bus stop near the Kuwaiti embassy in New Delhi was quietly renamed ‘Railway Museum Stop’.

Not just the government, even the mainstream intelligentsia sided with Iraq over Kuwait. Seminars organised by think-tanks propagated views that went to the extent of questioning the legitimacy of Kuwait as an independent state. Driven by ideological blindness and politically correct anti-American rhetoric, many harped on the imperial hand in the formation of Kuwait. Disregarding the issues of national aspirations of the Kuwaitis, they tacitly endorsed Saddam Hussein’s claim of Kuwait being the 17th province of Iraq. As a result, less than two weeks after the Iraqi invasion, then foreign minister, I.K. Gujral, became the first foreign leader to meet Saddam Hussein.

Even hours before the commencement of Operation Desert Storm on 17 January 1991, Indian diplomats based in the Middle East were predicting “peaceful” resolution. Meanwhile the government changed and Chandra Shekar, who became the prime minister, subsequently sought to minimise the damage by providing logistical support to American planes that were operating from Diego Garcia.

But the damage to Indo-Kuwait relations was substantial. Besides strong historic connections until 1961, the Indian rupee was the legal currency in Kuwait. Many Kuwaitis felt let down by the Indian refusal to stand up against a blatant aggression. India became a fair weather friend, who could not be counted on in times of crisis.

... contd.