India, U.S. avoid Iraq troops issue

New Delhi and Washington steered clear of the sensitive issue of India sending forces to Iraq yesterday as the United States battles to persuade wary allies to share the burden of sending troops.

But the possibility of Indian troops working with U.S. forces could be raised at regular official talks in Washington in about a week, an Indian defence official said.

Washington's top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers, briefed Indian military chiefs and the prime minister's top security adviser on the situation in Iraq but avoided pressing India to reverse its refusal to send troops.

"(The visit)... has nothing to do with India's contribution of troops anywhere," he told reporters.

"We talked about the situation in Iraq, but we never got to that level of detail about how Indian troops might operate because the Indian government has already made a decision on that."

Indian and U.S. officials had said the issue could be raised during Myers' two-day visit to the Indian capital.

The United States is trying to muster as much international support as possible for its forces in Iraq.

But India and other key nations, including France and Russia, have rejected requests for troops without a clear U.N. mandate. Japan has agreed to send peacekeepers but has not set a time.

Myers said the United States would see out its mission in Iraq despite mounting casualties and the refusal by some allies to send troops.

"It is fair to say it's still a war zone in many cases," he said in response to a question on casualties.

"Militarily, we won't be defeated in Iraq. We are going to stay there until the job is done," he added, repeating comments he made in Baghdad on Monday.

The death of a U.S. soldier on Monday brought to 50 the number killed in action since major combat ended on May 1.

The United States has named 30 governments which have agreed to contribute to military or police operations in Iraq.