On the eve of the UN Security Council debate and vote against Libya on February 26, Gaddafi, in a missive to Manmohan, asked for India's support for his actions as civil war broke out in Libya, a Delhi-based newspaper reported.
The request for support came even as African and European countries, including Libya's UN envoy who defected to the rebels, made an impassioned plea in the Security Council to refer Gaddafi to the International Criminal Court. India voted for the UNSC resolution, which was passed unanimously.
Gaddafi's mercurial character, though, was on full display on Libya's national day, which he celebrated earlier this week. In a five-hour address in Tripoli, he mentioned India at least five times, including saying that he would give future commercial contracts to Indian and Chinese companies and that he was very pleased with India's vote in the UN Security Council.
Gaddafi has rarely been a person India has been comfortable with. In September 2009, Gaddafi, in a 100-minute speech at the UN General Assembly, railed against India and Kashmir as well. "Kashmir should be an independent state, not Indian, not Pakistani. We should end this conflict. It should be a Ba'athist state between India and Pakistan," he said. (Writer-South Asia)
