Washington: United States Secretary of State Colin Powell has said he did not expect India to provide troops for stabilisation operations in Iraq, but still hopes other nations will send their forces after a UN resolution.

"The Indians, they have indicated they would not be in a position to provide troops. And I don't expect that position to change," Powell said in an interview to CNN on September 28.

Asked if he was disappointed on India's reply, Powell said, "I would like to have seen the Indians provide troops, but you know each nation has to make its own judgment. We can't order troops in by diktat.

"We have to persuade them that it is in the interest of international order for them to provide troops, and we are pleased that so many nations have done that," he said.

The Secretary of State said he was optimistic about other nations contributing troops for stabilisation efforts in war-ravaged Iraq.

Asked why US President George W Bush did not raise the issue of troops for Iraq with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pak President Musharraf, Powell said, "There were broader issues that had to be discussed as well in the meetings with both Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Musharraf."

He also said the United States will come up with a second version of the UN resolution for expanding role for the multilateral agency in Iraq "within the next two days".

"Within the next two days we'll come up with a second version of the resolution, based on the consultations we had last week. We'll get to share that with our friends on the Security Council," Powell said.

Powell said he could not put a timeframe for the passage of the UN resolution.

"I can't tell you when the resolution will be passed, I'm anxious to move quickly because we have the donors' conference coming up at the end of October," he said.

There are "people who want to move forward to a new resolution ... that would provide a broader international mandate for what we're doing," Powell said.

"It would involve the creation of a multinational force-cover for the troops that are there."

The US commanders, he said, are preparing contingencies if a new international division can't be formed, including the call-up of more US reservists. In any event, they know such a force is likely to be relatively small, he said.

PTI