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`Decision-making' on troops for Iraq continuing

By Amit Baruah

BEIJING June 22. India is in the process of "decision-making" as far as sending troops to serve under the Anglo-American "authority" in Iraq is concerned, official sources told presspersons today. A number of factors, the sources said, would influence the process. Some clarifications on the scope and nature of the deployment of troops had been obtained from the United States and some other "clarifications" were pending.

They also stressed that the decision would also depend on consensus-building with political parties back home. Further consultations with political parties will take place after the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, returns home on June 27.

As promised, the Government will also begin consultations with Iraq's neighbours such as Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey on responding to the American request to deploy Indian troops in the West Asian nation. These discussions are still to begin. The sources said the decision to deploy troops should be in India's national interest and in consonance with the views of the Iraqi people. The Government also appears to be concerned by the ground situation in Iraq and is expecting regular reports from India's Ambassador to Iraq on the developments there. They confirmed that at some half-a-dozen meetings between Indian and American leaders the issue of troop deployment had figured, but said this was not the "main issue" at the discussions.

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