Governments behind rise of IS, Al Qaeda: Ex-diplomat

Terror organisations like the Islamic State (IS) and the Al Qaeda could rise only because governments of different countries funded them at one point of time or the other in their early days, Hardeep Singh Puri, veteran diplomat and former Indian Permanent Representative to the UN, said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a panel discussion on the launch of his book "Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos" (HarperCollins) by Vice President Hamid Ansari here, Puri said that governments did not foresee how the IS and the Al Qaeda would become "hydra-headed" monsters when funding them while intervening in troubled spots in the world.

Calling for greater introspection in the procedure followed in mandating interventions of national sovereignties of countries by the UN Security Council, he said not enough discussions take place in the world's highest decision-making forum which alone has the power to decide on whether international intervention can be made or not in a troubled country or region.

"(But) the Security Council can take these decisions only through discussions," he said, and regretted that the due process of discussions were not followed in deciding on the Libyan intervention in 2011.

He gave the example of Iraq and said that the military action in that country in 2003 was "based on false surmises".

According to Puri, both Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and Saddam Hussein of Iraq enjoyed Western support for a long time but then when they fell out of favour, intervention was mandated on flawed premises.

Puri was the Indian envoy to the UN from 2009 to 2013, coinciding with the period in 2011-12 when India was a non-permanent member of the UNSC.

Releasing the book, Vice President Ansari said that it was a timely and well-written one.

"India has been a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council only on seven occasions since 1946, the last being the term 2011-2012," Ansari stated.

"For this reason alone, Ambassador Hardeep Puri's book has uniqueness for being 'an insider's account'," he stated.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was the guest of honour, talked about his personal association with Puri for 46 years and narrated some anecdotes from their shared past. Puri is also a member of the BJP though he holds no party or official position and remains an unofficial adviser on foreign affairs.

--IANS

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