New Delhi: India on July 14 decided not to send troops to Iraq now, saying it can consider such a request if it comes from UN.

"Were there to be an explicit UN mandate for the purpose, the government of India could consider the deployment of our troops in Iraq," External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters after a 90- minte meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which discussed the issue.

The decision comes after months of debate within the government following a US request that India send troops to Iraq as part of stabilisation force following the ouster of Saddam Hussein regime.

A statement read out by Sinha after the meeting said India remains ready to respond to the urgent needs of the Iraqi people for stability, security, political progress and economic reconstruction and for that purpose, the government of India could consider the deployment of our troops in Iraq," it said.

"In the meanwhile, government of India is ready to contribute to the restoration of infrastructure, medical, health, educational, communication and other civilian needs of the Iraqi people.

"As a concrete gesture of our support to the Iraqi people, we are already planning to set up, jointly with Jordan, a hospital in Najaf in Iraq," the statement said.

The statement said that the government gave careful thought to the question of sending troops to Iraq.

"Our longer term national interest, our concern for the people of Iraq, our long-standing ties with the Gulf region as a whole as well as our growing dialogue and strengthened ties with the US have been key elements in this consideration," the statement said.

Besides Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, other who attended the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K C Pant, National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra and Sinha.

The External Affairs Minister, who read out the statement, did not take any questions from reporters.

PTI