New Delhi: With the US keen on deployment of Indian troops in Iraq, a team from Pentagon will discuss with the government, the exact role the proposed stabilisation force is slated to play in the war-ravaged country on June 16.

The decision to send a US Defence Department team was taken by President George W Bush during an unscheduled meeting he had with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani in Washington last week.

This followed some reservations the Indian side had expressed on sending troops, who may have to work under American command. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has already met twice and considered the issue but did not take a decision.

The team, which arrives here on June 15, will be led by Assistance Secretary of Defence for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman and would comprise representatives from the Defence and State Departments.

The US President, who had dropped by when Advani was holding talks with National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, had said the Pentagon team would hold talks to address whatever reservations India had on contributing its troops to the US-led efforts to stabilise Iraq.

Advani had told reporters then that Bush decided to send the team when he told him that the Cabinet Committee on Security had discussed the issue twice and needed some clarifications.

PTI