By Shishir Gupta and Amitav Ranjan

Yours is a BJP government, you took the risk in 1998 (Pokharan II), take the initiative now as well. We know you may ask for UN cover or cite domestic concerns. We can get a UN cover but if you send troops right now, that will strengthen our friendship.

This was Washington's message—which included a string of incentives as well—that New Delhi chose to reject when it decided not to send troops to Iraq earlier this week.

The message, highly placed sources said, was conveyed by senior officials in Washington to visiting Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal who, in turn, summarised it for his bosses in New Delhi.

His assessment of Washington's message, these sources said, was examined by the Cabinet Committee on Security before it said no.

In return for India's support, the US, sources said, was willing to:

• Accommodate an Indian army general as liasion officer at Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida as well as post 35 Indian officers at its command and control headquarters in Iraq.

• Offer progress on the ‘‘trinity issues'': nuclear, hi-tech and space cooperation. Implied in this was that like Russia and France, US would be more accommodating towards India when it came to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for transfer of critical technologies.

• Pick up the estimated $300-million tab for troop deployment.

• Help India recover its investments made during the Saddam regime as well as get a share of the economic reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

Although Washington has said that New Delhi's no won't affect ties—Ambassador Blackwill said this today as well—officials here are concerned and are keeping their fingers crossed.

While the Indo-US joint working groups on peacekeeping are tentatively scheduled to meet in Washington on August 4, the JWG on counter-terrorism will meet the next day. The topic of Indian troops for Iraq will obviously come up at the peacekeeping JWG in case the meeting goes as per schedule.

The other significant event is the Indo-US meeting of Defence Policy Group scheduled for August 6-7 in Washington. Here Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Prasad is expected to ‘‘explain'' New Delhi's decision to Pentagon's under secretary for policy Douglas Feith.

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