India rules out sending troops to Afghanistan

New Delhi, May 4 (UNI) India today ruled out sending troops to Afghanistan.

''There is no such proposal,'' External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters here in response to a question.

He was asked about a report that an advisor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Tuesday and discussed sending Indian troops to Afghanistan.

The report said Mr Blair's Foreign Policy Adviser Nigel Shinwald had told Dr Singh that India should contribute troops to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Mr Sarna said the high-level team that had gone to Afghanistan on Sunday to secure the release of Indian telecom engineer K Suryanarayan, had since returned and given a report to the government on the security of Indians working on various projects in the war-torn country.

The team could not secure Suryanaraya's release because he was executed even before it could negotiate his release.

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