India's patience will be limited if 26/11 recurs: Gates

New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) In a clear signal to Pakistan,
the US Wednesday said India's patience would be "limited" if a
Mumbai-type attack recurs as it warned that Lashkar-e-Taiba in
league with al-Qaeda could trigger an Indo-Pak armed
confrontation to destabilise the region.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who discussed the
serious threat posed by terrorism to the region with Indian
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, which includes
LeT, Taliban and Tehreek-e-Taliban under the "umbrella" of
al-Qaeda.
He said there was a need to recognise the magnitude of
threat to the entire region as the syndicate has "home and
safe haven" in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas.
"While al-Qaeda is operating in Afghanistan along with
the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban is focusing on Pakistan.
The LeT 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 observed that India had shown "great
restraint and statesmanship" after 26/11 but it would "not be
unreasonable to assume that Indian patience will be limited
were there to be further attacks." (MORE) PTI NCB
RDM


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