New Delhi, July 24: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today expressed apprehension that there were "serious moves afoot" to agree to US request to send Indian troops to Iraq even though the government's recent decision "vindicated" the party's stand that they should be deployed only under UN Command. "Whatever the government may now claim, it was clear that there were serious moves afoot to agree to the US request", Gandhi said while addressing a general body meeting of the parliamentary party.

She said that the party's firm stand on the issue of sending Indian troops to Iraq has been finally vindicated.

Gandhi spoke about her letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on June 4 and her meeting with him on June 15, opposing any move to send Indian troops to Iraq or as part of a multilateral peacekeeping force under an explicit UN mandate. On Vajpayee's claim of opening a "landmark" chapter in Sino-India relations, the leader of opposition reminded the government that the transformation in Sino-Indian relations started under Indira Gandhi and the defining moment, the paradigm shift, took place when Rajiv Gandhi visited China in December 1999.

It was also gratifying that four decades after "castigating" Jawaharlal Nehru, Vajpayee "rediscovered" him in Beijing while "reaffirming" India's commitment to Panchsheel, Gandhi added.

Bureau Report