http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aAdLaljuA1fs&refer=asiaJuly 14 (Bloomberg) -- India will send its soldiers to Iraq only under a United Nations mandate, Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said, in a setback for a U.S. drive to bring other nations into the peacekeeping force. snip
The Bush administration had sought the participation of 17,000 Indian soldiers as part of a strategy to relieve American and British forces of some of the security burden in Iraq. U.S. lawmakers have pressed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to round up contributions from other countries, and Rumsfeld said requests have been made to as many as 90 governments. snip
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said earlier this month that his country was weighing participation in Iraq and would ``much prefer a cover'' such as the UN, Islamic Conference or Gulf Cooperation Council, rather than going it alone.
``There are many countries that have indicated they would be more comfortable participating if the operation had been under a broader UN umbrella,'' UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in Washington today after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. ``Whether the member states will revisit this issue with the U.S. is something that only time will tell.''
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