Washington, July 26: India has not said a flat `no` to the US request to send a division of troops to Iraq, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said. Rumsfeld`s remark came at a press conference in response to questions to ambassador Paul Bremer, the top US civilian official in Iraq who reports to the defence secretary.
Bremner said, "It seems to me that`s a question you really should ask the Indian government. They are capable of speaking for themselves. And I don`t want to speculate as to what it would take to get the Indians in. They have to answer that question themselves." When the same question was put to Rumsfeld, the American defence secretary said, "But they (India) have not said flat `no.`"
Rumsfeld said the US was in discussions with other countries as well."We`ve been talking to the Indians, the Pakistanis, the Turks, Bangladesh, and any number of other countries and I anticipate we`ll continue to get more international," he said. Bureau Report