New Delhi: Gearing up to take on the government during the Monsoon Session, non-Congress Opposition parties on June 24 asked the Centre to clearly declare that India will not be part of the US occupation in Iraq and said any other stand amounts to infringement of Parliamentary privilege.

"We are warning government that it should come out with its stand. How can the Prime Minister consider a new consensus on the issue when a Parliamentary resolution already exists on it," CPM (Communist party of India-Marxist) leader Nilotpal Basu told reporters in New Delhi.

A joint statement signed by Left parties, Samajwadi Party, RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal), JD-S (Janata Dal- Secular) and Ram Vilas Paswan's LJS warned the government against engaging with the US administration over the possibility of sending Indian troops to Iraq saying two resolutions passed by Parliament had called upon the UN to ensure that reconstruction is done under its auspices.

"We consider the government's present exercise as contrary to national interest and an affront to Parliament. We demand of the government that it forthwith declare that in country's interest and prestige, it will never be part of the US occupation or police force in Iraq," it said.

The parties will discuss their floor strategy before the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins on July 21.

Condemning the presence of Pentagon officials in the country, Basu, a Rajya Sabha MP, said deviating from the resolution would mean infringing on Parliamentary privilege.

He supported the Congress stand that troops be sent only under UN auspices saying it was in line with the national consensus and resolutions adopted in Parliament.

PTI