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India 'won't send troops' to Iraq

From CNN Correspondent Suhasini Haidar

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A top Indian official says New Delhi will not be sending peacekeeping troops to Iraq, despite repeated requests from the United States.

The senior defense official told CNN on Friday that India cannot spare any troops to help out in the Middle Eastern nation.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said while no official decision had yet been made "the internal situation in the North-Western Sector is such that we can't afford to send any troops for peacekeeping."

The official was referring to the army's commitments in Jammu and Kashmir, where a separatist insurgency has left tens of thousands of people dead.

Indian forces are also deployed along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. The Indian army says one-fourth of its troops (250,000 men) are in Jammu and Kashmir.

The official said the same "internal situation" makes it difficult to respond to U.S. requests for troops to Liberia and Afghanistan as well.

In a Cabinet meeting in mid-July, the Indian government said it would send troops to Iraq only with an explicit U.N. mandate asking for them, and even then they would only serve under the U.N. flag.

The decision was made after a formal U.S. request asking for about 17,000 Indian troops.

Instead, Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said India will continue its humanitarian efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The defense official's remarks comes at a time when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca is visiting New Delhi.

Asked about reports she was on a mission to press for Indian troops in Iraq, Rocca denied that was the purpose of the visit.

She said she was here to build on bilateral ties between India and the United States.


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