India on Monday urged all parties in Libya to abjure violence and use of force to resolve differences.
Regretting the air strikes over Libya, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said: “The need of the hour is cessation of conflict… India calls upon all people to abjure violence and the use of threats and force to resolve the differences.”
Mr. Krishna told correspondents that New Delhi viewed the ongoing violence, air strikes and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Libya with grave concern. All parties and stakeholders should settle the issue through peaceful dialogue conducted by the United Nations and other regional organisations.
Regretting the air strikes, he said they would harm innocent civilians, foreign nationals and diplomatic missions and its personnel in that country.
Forces from the United States, Britain and France are pounding targets in Libya through aerial attacks. India is one of the five U.N. Security Council members that abstained from voting on Resolution 1973 authorising “all necessary measures'' to protect civilians, including a No-Fly-Zone.
Strongly condemning the attacks, the Communist Party of India said that in the name of protecting the people, acts of aggression and naked intervention in the internal affairs of Libya were taking place.
The calculated move was to install a “puppet regime there.”
In a statement, the party's central secretariat said the people of Libya and Bahrain must be allowed to settle their affairs on their own. External interference would only worsen the situation.
It urged the government to take a firm stand and demand a review of the Security Council resolution and a halt to the aerial bombings forthwith.
The CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation said that after Iraq, this act of aggression was being conducted in the name of ushering in democracy and toppling a dictator.
