Vajpayee was to meet his top security cabinet late Saturday followed by separate talks with the two dozen parties in his coalition, a government spokesman said.

However, no date has been set to announce a decision and Vajpayee leaves Sunday on a six-day visit to China.

While some of the premier's top aides seem to be leaning towards the US request for troops, there is stiff resistance both from opposition parties and members of Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist BJP party who argue that Indian troops must only come under the UN flag, not US-British command.

Just hours before the meeting, Bal Thackeray, chief of the far-right Hindu party Shiv Sena which is part of the coalition, urged Vajpayee to reject the "US pressure" to send troops.

"Did America ask us when it attacked Iraq?" Thackeray told his party's mouthpiece Samna (Confrontation).

"Why then should we oblige? Sending troops to Iraq at America's behest would be very foolish," he said.

"Turning down the American request for troops is the only way to show self-respect. Accepting the American demand is not in the interests of the nation," he said.

Also on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said India would assess public opinion before taking a decision on sending troops to Iraq.

New Delhi would also examine "what Iraq feels about it and what are the plans for restoring Iraqi administration in the country," Advani told reporters on his plane, as quoted by the United News of India agency.

India is reported also to be consulting Iraq's neighbours, including Iran, about how they would view a troop deployment.

A report in The Hindu newspaper Saturday said the Indian army had already identified an infantry division attached to a strike corps as the best option for "peace enforcing" operations in Iraq.

This division of around 17,000 troops, led by a two-star general, includes armoured and artillery brigades, a mix considered suited for Iraq, the daily said.

According to initial plans, most of the heavy equipment, including about 50 armoured vehicles, would be shipped to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr by four naval vessels if India gives the go-ahead.

Indian Air Force IL-76 transporters would airlift troops directly into Iraq, the newspaper added.

However, a defence ministry spokesman Saturday said the report was "premature."

A request to send troops was made to New Delhi in early May by the United States, which is facing growing difficulties in replacing its occupation forces with an international stabilisation force in the war-ravaged country.

Vajpayee met June 15 with Sonia Gandhi, head of India's main opposition Congress party, after she expressed reservations about sending troops to Iraq. The premier told her that forces would not be deployed without a national consensus.

Some of the strongest support for a deployment has come from India's business community, which is hoping a yes to the United States would open up the way for stronger trade links.

Reports have also said India was negotiating authorisation for a transfer of military technology in exchange for participation in an Iraq force.

On Monday, a Pentagon team held talks with senior defence and foreign ministry officials to dispel Indian misgivings over contributing troops.

But on Thursday, Defence Minister George Fernandes said New Delhi was still seeking clarifications from the United States.

New Delhi wants its troops to be posted in "non-conflict" areas such as Kurdish-dominated northern Iraq so as not to risk troops, sources said this week.

WAR.WIRE