On the one hand, they said New Delhi wishes to retain good relations with Washington, but on the other there is fierce political pressure at home not to accede to the request.

Should Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee give the go-ahead for the deployment and significant casualties occur, he could face a severe political backlash ahead of key state and national elections in the next year.

New Delhi had opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq from the outset, saying any action against Baghdad should be co-ordinated by the United Nations.

Should Vapayee now allow Indian soldiers into Iraq, where they will fall under US and British rather than UN command, he would be seen as doing a about face, political opponents said.

Already there are clear signs that the government is moving towards giving the nod to the deployment as it has agreed to seek clarification on the issue from a US Pentagon team due in New Delhi on Monday.

Previously it had said it would seek clarification from the United Nations.

India's deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who is touring the US, has denied any US pressure on the issue but has hit out at opposition members who have objected to the deployment, saying they are uninformed.

The request to send more than 10,000 soldiers -- some reports have put the figure as closer to 20,000 -- was conveyed to New Delhi in early May by the US, which is facing growing difficulties in replacing its own troops with an international stabilisation force in the war-ravaged country.

The Hindustan newspaper Thursday said Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes, who had opposed Indian peacekeeping participation in Iraq, is pointedly avoiding reporters' queries on the issue.

"As US pressure on India to contribute an infantry division for Iraq mounts, the discomfiture of the defence minister is palpable ... Any participation would involve a fundamental revision of national policy on peacekeeping operations," it said.

The Hindu newspaper in an analysis said the government should retain independence in decision-making "when it comes to sovereign questions."

"While it is important for India to maintain good relations with the US, it will have to pay a price if it finds itself rushing to do the "American bidding," it added.

It said such a move can only lead to Indian troops serving under the "occupying American and British force" and also risked the soldiers lives as American security personnel were still getting killed.

Several political parties have urged the government to reject the request as it would harm India's relations with Arab states and amount to a complete turnabout in its stand opposing the war in Iraq.

"Any move to send Indian troops to Iraqi soil will place our country in a role of a US collaborator," said Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).

He added that it would amount to a "blatant violation" of the anti-war resolution passed in Indian parliament.

On Monday, in a letter to Vajpayee, the president of the main opposition Congress party Sonia Gandhi said deploying troops without a UN mandate would violate "fundamental principles" followed by India.

Vajpayee is slated to meet Gandhi on the issue on Sunday, ahead of the arrival of the Pentagon team.

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