Date:15/05/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/05/15/stories/2003051503581100.htm

National

No request from U.S. for sending troops to Iraq: India

New Delhi May 14. India said today that it had not received any formal request from the United States for sending its military forces to Iraq for assistance in peace keeping and stabilisation operations in the war-torn country.

``We have received no formal request. Our policy in such matters is clear and well-established. We participate in such operations only under the United Nations flag,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters here.

The spokesman was asked to comment on a report in an English daily that India was still undecided over a U.S. request to participate in the proposed Iraq stabilisation force. — UNI