NEW DELHI, Jan 20 – The US today made it clear that India’s patience would be “limited” if it faces a Mumbai-type attack again as it warned that Lashkar-e-Taiba was working in league with al-Qaeda to destabilise the region and provoke an Indo-Pak military confrontation, reports PTI. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who discussed the serious threat posed by terrorism to the region with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A K Antony, emphasised the need for “high level of cooperation” from all countries to defeat the “syndicate” of terror, including the LeT, the Taliban and the Tehreek-e-Taliban under the command of al-Qaeda.
He said the syndicate had “home and safe haven” in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas and that there was need to recognise the magnitude of threat to the entire region.
“While al-Qaeda is operating in Afghanistan along with the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban is focusing on Pakistan. The Lashkar-e-Taiba is focusing on Pakistan as also India,” Gates told reporters here winding up his two-day visit.
“The success of any one of them is success for all... Victory for one is victory for all. These groups operate under the umbrella of al-Qeada from North West Frontier Province (of Pakistan) and Waziristan,” he said.
“Under the umbrella, they intend to destabilise not only Pakistan, but the entire region by provoking confrontation between India and Pakistan through terror attacks. This is a very complicated issue and very dangerous for the entire region as a whole,” he added.
To a question, Gates said that it would “not be unreasonable to assume that India’s patience will be limited” if there is a repeat of 26/11.
