'India has not changed its mind on sending troops to Iraq'

"There is neither any proposal nor is India considering it," Congress Party spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters in New Delhi late Friday, when asked if there was any change in the government's policy of not sending peacekeeping troops to Iraq.

India's Marxists, who are lending key support to the new government, had demanded that Singh explain his "ambiguous" comments that it was too early for the new Indian government to rule out sending troops to Iraq.

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"The ... government must make it clear that there is no question of sending Indian troops to Iraq to bolster the American occupation," the Marxists said in a statement.

Singh, a senior member of the Congress party which leads the left-leaning government, was in the United States to attend the funeral of former president Ronald Reagan, but established contact with Secretary of State Colin Powell.

When asked about the possibility of India sending troops under the UN banner to Iraq, Singh told reporters in Washington: "It is premature for me to say aye or nay.

"We are a coalition government, so the matter will have to be discussed by the government and by the cabinet committee on security," the diplomat turned politician added.

Singh also said that the "situation" in Iraq had "changed" after a new UN Security Council resolution on Iraq passed earlier this week.