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| Pak hub of worldwide Al Qaeda web connections | | US throws Musharraf regime into confusion | | BL KAK
NEW DELHI, JAN 12
In a significant turn of events, the United States has caused major embarrassment to its 'stalwart ally', Pakistan. For the first time the US has identified Pakistan as the "hub of a worldwide web of Al Qaeda connections". And happily for New Delhi, the US has asserted that India, which has been a "major target for jehadis" due to the insurgency in Kashmir, would remain a "reliable ally" against global terrorism.
India's Foreign Office as well as Prime Minister's Office (PMO) have just been fed with official reports from Washington in relation to the statement made at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence by the US intelligence chief, John Negroponte. Negroponte described Al Qaeda as a terrorist organisation that poses the "greatest threat" to American interests and said that its leaders are holed up in a secure hideout in Pakistan, from which they are revitalising their bruised but resilient network.
Pakistan has apparently been singled out for the first time in a Congressional testimony as the centre of the network accused of the Sep 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people.Negroponte said in his anual assesment of worldwide threats against the United States and its interests: "They are cultivating stronger operational connections and relationships that radiate outward from their leaders' secure hideout in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe".
In contrast, India's role in South Asia came in for fulsome praise from Negroponte, who became Director of national intelligence in April 2005 and will soon leave to become Deputy Secretary of State. He was quoted as saying: "We expect that India's growing confidence on the world stage as a result of its sustained high rates of economic growth will make New Delhi a more effective partner for the US but also a more formidable interlocutor in areas of disagreement, particularly in the World Trade Organisation (WTO)".
Negroponte added: "New Delhi seeks to play a role in fostering democracy in the region, especially in Nepal and Bangladesh, and will continue to be a reliable ally against global terrorism, given the fact that India is a major target for jehadists in part because of the insurgency in Kashmir".
Noting that the three-year peace process between India and Pakistan has lessened tensions in the region and both sides appear committed to improving the bilateral relationship, he said: "New Delhi's threshold for responding militarily to terrorist attacks has apparently increased since the two countries last approached the brink of war in 2002. Nonetheless, New Delhi's concerns about Pakistan's tolerance, at a minimum, of terrorist attacks on Indian soil remains a dominant theme in relations, and risk derailing rapprochement".
An attack on a high-profile target might lead New Delhi to take action to curtail militant capabilities in Pakistan or Pakistan-administered Kashmir and punish Islamabad for its continued support to Pakistan-based militants, he said and added: "We remain concerned about the potential that such a conflict could escalate". The Mumbai train bombings last year disrupted but ultimately did not derail the composite dialogue and a mechanism for exchanging information on terrorist attacks has been established, Negroponte noted.
He was also quoted as saying: "Yet, the prospect of renewed tensions between the two remains despite these improved relations, and we are mindful that Pakistan was a major source of nuclear proliferation until our efforts disrupted AQ Khan's network".
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