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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/>