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New Delhi: A team of US officials will be in New Delhi on June 16 to provide clarifications India is seeking with regard to contribution of its troops in the American-led stabilisation force in Iraq.

"It will be a one-day affair and the External Affairs Ministry will be playing the lead," a Ministry spokesman told reporters in reply to a question.

India mainly wants clarifications on the need for a stabilisation force, the duration for which the team would apprise the Indian side of the post-war situation in Iraq and plans for its reconstruction and stabilisation, sources said.

US has been keen on India's participation in the stabilisation force in Iraq because of the country's track record in the realm of peacekeeping operations.

President George W Bush, during his unscheduled meeting with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani in Washington on June 10, had raised the issue and told him that a team would be despatched to New Delhi to provide any clarification on the exact role of the proposed peace force.

Emerging from the meeting, Advani had told reporters that a decision in this regard would be taken only after clarifications were provided by the US.

PTI