'No decision on troops withdrawal from Lebanon'

India has not taken any decision on withdrawing its peacekeeping troops from the violence-hit region.

India, one of whose soldiers was injured in an Israeli strike in Lebanon some days back, has not taken any decision on withdrawing its peacekeeping troops from the violence-hit region, Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said on Wednesday.

HT Image

The tenure of the UN peacekeeping force is coming to an end soon and any decision on Indian troops in Lebanon, numbering about 600, would be taken only after that, he said.

Singh, who is here to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting, hoped the violence in the Middle East would come to a halt and the crisis resolved through negotiations.

"We hope sanity prevails," the Minister said.

Four UN observers from Austria, China, Canada and Finland were killed in the Israeli bombing in Lebanon on Tuesday. Some days back, an Indian soldier was wounded in an Israeli operation in the village of Houla there.

India has provided an infantry battalion to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, (UNIFIL) which monitors the southern Lebanese areas.