US plays down India Iraq move

India refused to send troops to Iraq despite US requests

Outgoing US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill says Delhi's refusal to send troops to Iraq will not jeopardise Indo-US relations.

Mr Blackwill said India's insistence that its peacekeepers could serve in Iraq only under a UN mandate reflected "the strength of Indian democracy".

The ambassador was speaking to a group of Indian businessmen in Delhi on Thursday, days before the end of his two-year stint in India.

He said there was scope for more defence co-operation between Delhi and Washington, including the possible Indian purchase of "defensive" nuclear, chemical and biological equipment.

Mr Blackwill's tenure in Delhi has seen dramatic growth in military, security and intelligence co-operation between the two countries.

His stress on a "strategic partnership" between India and the US raised Delhi's profile in Washington and highlighted a shift in the US stance towards South Asia.

Monthly exercises

Mr Blackwill told the Confederation of Indian Industry that the Bush administration was convinced Delhi's Iraq decision was the result of a "healthy debate" on the issue.

Ambassador Blackwill helped build US-Indian relations

"There is no residue or aftermath of the decision taken by India... although we are disappointed," he said.

He denied that the US had applied any pressure on India to send its troops to Iraq and said the two countries managed their differences with sensitivity and skill.

On defence co-operation, Mr Blackwill said US military sales to India had gone from zero to almost $200 million in the past 14 months, after Washington lifted sanctions against Delhi.

Sanctions were imposed after India conducted nuclear tests in 1998.

"We now have at least one joint military exercise or engagement each month," he said.

Mr Blackwill said the two countries faced three big challenges - advancing Asian stability based on democratic values, confronting terrorism, and slowing down the spread of weapons of mass destruction.