NEW DELHI, March 4: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to hold meeting with Muslim scholars and intellectuals in the backdrop of protests against the just concluded visit of US President George W Bush to India.

Concerned over the loss of life and violence during the protests, Dr Singh is likely to tell them that the nuclear deal reached with Mr Bush was not an endorsement of whatever the US was doing in Iraq and elsewhere, said media reports quoting highly placed sources.

The meeting is likely to be held after the current Parliament session. Iraq was one of the “problem areas” between New Delhi and Washington, added the sources. They said that within the Congress party there had been concerns about certain aspects of the nuclear deal.—APP