New Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on June 15 to discuss the issue of US request for deployment of Indian troops in war-ravaged Iraq, which the main Opposition party has opposed.

The meeting comes a day ahead of discussions the government would have with a team from Pentagon, which is being sent to New Delhi on instructions of President George W Bush.

The troop deployment issue had been raised by Bush during a meeting he had with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani in Washington last week.

Gandhi had held consultations with senior party leaders including Manmohan Singh, K Natwar Singh, Oscar Fernandes and Salman Khurshid on June 12 to formulate her stand on the issue.

Sources said the Prime Minister was expected to brief Gandhi about government's view on it.

Earlier, Sonia Gandhi had written a letter to the Prime Minister strongly opposing any move to deploy Indian troops in Iraq other than under the UN aegis, saying it would be violation of the fundamental principle of the country.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav has demanded convening of an all-party meeting by the government to take the Opposition into confidence.

US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill has said that Indian troops, if deployed, would operate under Indian flag and would not be used for combat purposes.

PTI