Pak-linked terror attack on India could undo thaw'

[indian_foxhound]

Washington, March 13, 2013
With the Lashkar-e-Taeba (LeT), believed to be
behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks,
remaining Pakistan's most problematic militant
group, the US fears an Islamabad-linked terrorist
attack against India could undo efforts to
improve ties between them. "Both India and Pakistan have made calculated decisions to improve ties, despite deep-rooted
mistrust," US director of National Intelligence
James Clapper said in his annual report to the US
Congress on Tuesday on the threats facing the
United States. "They held a series of meetings in the past year
and will probably continue to achieve
incremental progress on economic relations, such
as trade, while deferring serious discussion on
the more contentious issues of territorial disputes
and terrorism," he noted. "Even modest progress, however, could easily be
undone by a terrorist attack against India linked
to Pakistan, which could trigger a new crisis and
prompt New Delhi to freeze bilateral dialogue,"
Clapper warned in the report giving the
assessment 16 US intelligence agencies. LeT "will continue to be the most multifaceted
and problematic of the Pakistani militant groups,"
the report said suggesting "the group has the
long-term potential to evolve into a permanent
and even Hamas/ Hizballah-like presence in
Pakistan." Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) is the
Palestinian Sunni Islamic organization that has
governed the Gaza Strip since June 2007, while
Hizballah (the Party of God) is a Lebanon-based
Shia terrorist group formed in 1982 in response
to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. In US intelligence assessment the Taliban-led
insurgency has diminished in some areas of
Afghanistan but remains resilient and capable of
challenging US and international goals. Taliban senior leaders also continue to be based
in Pakistan, which allows them to provide
strategic guidance to the insurgency without fear
for their safety, the report said. Al-Qaeda's influence on the insurgency is limited,
although its propaganda gains from participating
in insurgent attacks far outweigh its actual
battlefield impact, it said. "India will continue to support the current
Afghan Government to ensure a stable and
friendly Afghanistan," the report said, as "India
sees its goals in Afghanistan as consistent with
US objectives, and favours sustained ISAF (The
International Security Assistance Force) and US presence in the country." "India will almost certainly cooperate with the
United States and Afghanistan in bilateral and
multilateral frameworks to identify assistance
activities that will help bolster civil society,
develop capacity, and strengthen political
structures in Afghanistan," it said, "Moreover, India consistently ranks in the top three nations
that Afghans see as helping their country rebuild.
As of April 2012, India ranked as Afghanistan's
fifth largest bilateral donor," the report noted. Turning to Sino-Indian relations, the report said
neither India nor China currently seeks to
overturn the strategic balance on the border or
commit provocations that would destabilise the
relationship. "However, India and China are each increasing
their military abilities to respond to a border
crisis," it said noting, "Both consider these moves
to be defensive, but they are probably fuelling
mutual suspicion and raising the stakes in a
potential crisis." Cyberattacks pose more of a threat to the United
States than a land-based attack by a terrorist
group, while North Korea's development of a
nuclear weapons programme poses a "serious
threat," Clapper said. However, there is only a "remote chance" of a
major cyberattack on the United States that
would cause widespread disruptions, such as
regional power outages, the report said noting
most countries or groups don't have the capacity
to pull it off.

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