Washington, June 10: US President George W Bush is dispatching a Pentagon team to New Delhi next week to provide any clarification needed for the deployment of Indian troops in Iraq. The move reflects US keenness for the Indian troops due to their previous peacekeeping record and logistics suitability in the area. Bush brought up the issue of India contributing its troops to the US-led efforts to stabilise Iraq during a 30-minute unscheduled meeting with visiting Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani at the White House today.
The US President, who dropped by when Advani was holding talks with National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, said the Pentagon team would visit New Delhi on Monday.
Emerging from the meeting, Advani said that Bush decided to send the team when he told him that the Indian Cabinet Committee on Security had discussed the issue twice and needed some clarifications.

He said India needs clarification on certain issues including the need for such a force, its roadmap and the command under which it would work.
"It is only after that the Government of India would be able to take a decision on the issue," Advani told reporters. Earlier US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had asked Advani for the same favour, when in a rare gesture he called on Advani at his hotel. Bureau Report