Washington, Sept 4: The United States has said that countries like India and Bangladesh have their own "political dynamic" that has to be considered in responding to its call to the international community for troop contributions to Iraq. "India and Bangladesh have their own political dynamic that has to be considered" while responding to the US call for troops for Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell said at a media briefing here without elaborating.

However, he said the US is very pleased and encouraged by the response "we have had so far that 30 nations have contributed something over 20,000 troops who are there or on the way there, and that is pretty significant". Speaking at the briefing White House Press Secretary Scott Mclellan said India was one of the countries that felt they needed some additional authority "and we said we want to listen to their concerns."

Pakistan, he said, also began to express those concerns. "We said we want to listen to your concerns. We want to work with you. This is an international issue, and it is important to have an international response to this issue."

Bureau Report