US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned on that Al Qaeda would try to provoke a war between India and Pakistan with the aim to destabilising Pakistan and gaining access to its nuclear arsenal.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backed the defence chief, saying that Al Qaeda and like-minded terrorist groups were determined to seek nuclear weapons. The two senior officials told a hearing on President Obama's new Afghan policy at the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations last night that thety had taken such threats very seriously.Secretary Gates said that Al Qaeda was also supporting Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attacks. He said, Al Qaeda is providing them with targeting information and helping them in their plotting in India – clearly with the idea of provoking a conflict between India and Pakistan that would destabilise Pakistan.