India offered only intelligence-sharing

new delhi: india has offered nothing more than an exchange of intelligence to the united states in its fight against terrorism, the government made clear on thursday. leaders from the main opposition parties were told this at a meeting summoned here by prime minister atal behari vajpayee. they were also told that the united states had not asked for anything else.the two-and-a-half hour meeting seemed to pacify critics within the opposition of the indian response to america's declaration of war against the taliban. the left, for example, had been opposed to any offer of military bases to the united states. but after thursday's discussion, communist party of india (marxist) leader h s surjeet told reporters, "it was a good meeting." it is not immediately clear if the government will offer more facilities at a later stage - if and when the americans ask for them. when asked about it later in the day, the foreign office spokeswoman seemed to keep the option open. it remained to be seen, as the situation evolved, if america "expanded" its request. "the offer of support, the offer of assistance remains on the table." she however repeated nothing more than intelligence had been asked or offered at this stage. there had been no specific call for military assistance, she said. but surjeet seemed to see intelligence as the limit of what india was willing to give. "they (the government) said we will keep it limited to this," he said. the government said the exchange of information between india and the united states had been going on a daily basis. eleven leaders from nine opposition parties attended the meeting during which they were briefed by external affairs and defence minister jaswant singh and finance minister yashwant sinha. home minister l k advani, parliamentary affairs minister pramod mahajan, minister of state in the prime minister's office vijay goel also attended the meeting, which took place a day after the government similarly took his national democratic alliance partners in confidence. the prime minister had first met opposition leaders soon after the september 11 attacks. but this was a longer briefing, for a fewer people. opposition leaders present included: manmohan singh, madhavrao scindia and natwar singh from congress, h s surjeet (cpi-m), mulayam singh yadav (samajwadi party), mayawati (bahujan samajwadi party), p h pandian (aiadmk), sharad pawar (nationalist congress party), raghuvansh prasad singh (rashtriya janata dal), a b bardhan (cpi) and c ramachandraiah (telugu desam party). in his concluding remarks, vajpayee made clear that no air-bases had been offered to america to launch strikes against the taliban. the government assured opposition leaders that india's concerns over terrorism in jammu and kashmir had been made clear to the united states. while backing a fight against terrorism, the leaders asked the government to exercise caution. "we are with the government," congress leader k natwar singh said after the meeting. "but we have to be cautious." both government and the opposition agreed that the war should not be seen as a fight against islam. vajpayee said all parties should act together in getting this message across. emerging from the meeting, samajwadi party's mulayam singh yadav said he had stressed the need to maintain unity within the country. muslims within the country were being regarded with suspicion; they were scared. raids were being conducted at schools and colleges, he charged. the congress talked about the importance of the non aligned movement, regarded virtually defunct by many others. it asked government to consult nam leaders during this crises. the meeting with opposition parties came just hours before jaswant singh begins his us tour. he is expected to discuss india's role in the fight against terrorism, and its own concerns, with us secretary of state colin powell. he will also stop over in germany and france, part of the coalition being built by america. more meetings are planned in delhi. on october 5, the cabinet secretary will meet police chiefs and chief secretaries from the states to discuss internal security following the september 11 attacks. a possible meeting later of chief ministers is also being discussed.