In response to a query from the press regarding a press report in the Indian Express this morning, the official spokesperson made the following comment :
"The report that has appeared this morning in Indian Express suggesting that the United States has asked India to show "1998 (Pokhran) guts” is baseless. Furthermore, to suggest that Indian troop deployment in Iraq was linked by the U.S. to specific quid
pro quos mentioned in the article, such as progress on trinity issues, reimbursement of cost of troop deployment or recovery of Indian investments in Iraq is equally baseless and false.”