NEW DELHI, Sept 8: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee spoke by telephone on Monday with US President George W. Bush about Iraq and other issues on the eve of a visit to New Delhi by a US envoy, official sources said.

Bush and Vajpayee “exchanged views on the situation in Iraq,” an Indian official source said.

India on July 14 rejected a US request to send troops to Iraq but said it would reconsider if there was an explicit UN mandate. Washington has since proposed a UN resolution to send a multinational force to Iraq.

The official source said Vajpayee and Bush also discussed World Trade Organization (WTO) talks that would begin on Wednesday in Cancun, Mexico, where India and the United States are expected to be leaders respectively in the blocs of developing and developed countries.—AFP