2:28 AM
NEW DELHI: India would have no choice but to respond to another attack on its territory from Pakistan-based militants, the country’s home minister told the US in 2009 according to a leaked diplomatic cable.
P. Chidambaram expressed frustration at Pakistan’s unwillingness to crack down on militant groups during talks with US Under Secretary of State Bill Burns, according to a June 2009 cable from the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website that was published by The Hindu newspaper.
Discussing the prospect of another attack in India after the Mumbai 2008 assault that left 166 people dead, the home minister noted that “the people of India will expect us to respond. We won’t have any other choice.”
The Mumbai carnage, in which 10 gunmen stormed the city and laid siege to luxury hotels, a train station and a Jewish centre, was blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group.
South Asia is considered one of the world’s most dangerous nuclear flashpoints because of India and Pakistan’s history of war, poor diplomatic relations and their possession of atomic weapons.
In another mid-2009 cable accessed by The Hindu, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton instructed the US embassy in Islamabad to warn the Pakistani government of “credible reports” that the LeT was planning another attack in India.
The embassy was instructed “to underscore to senior Pakistani government officials the critical importance of Pakistani cooperation in preventing Lashkar-e-Taiba attacks on India.”
The Hindu report, with links to the cables, can be viewed at:
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