Defence Minister George Fernandes, convenor of the ruling alliance which includes some two dozen parties, said Vajpayee had briefed them at length on the US request to send Indian soldiers to an Iraq stabilisation force.

"The prime minister should take an appropriate decision on the issue of sending troops to Iraq keeping in mind national interest and the interest of the Iraqi people," Fernandes told reporters.

"We feel the prime minister should decide on this issue. A decision can only be taken after the prime minister returns from his official visit to China."

Vajpayee leaves Sunday for a six-day visit to China. He met separately Saturday with his top security cabinet on sending Indian troops to Iraq.

After the meeting, Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters that India still sought clarifications from the United States.

"There have been a number of questions put to the US team which was here for discussions on this issue. Some, they were able to reply. To some others they said, they will get back to us after discussions in Washington," Sinha said.

A Pentagon team met Monday with senior defence and foreign ministry officials to dispel Indian misgivings over contributing troops.

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

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 colaition member Shiv Sena, urged Vajpayee to reject the "US pressure" to send troops.

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

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

"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.

Public opinion will also be taken into account before India sends troops to Iraq, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said Saturday.

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

A report Saturday in The Hindu newspaper 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, 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 United States issued its request for troops in early May, hoping to address the 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.

WAR.WIRE