The highest ranking officer of the US armed forces, Admiral Michael Mullen has finished discussions with the Chief of the armed forces of India General V.K.Singh in New Delhi a few minutes earlier. Both are understood to have discussed security matters of mutual concern. Counter-terrorism, military exercises between the two countries and military-to-military co-operation are expected to figure when Admiral Mullen calls on defence minister A K Antony and national security adviser Shivshankar Menon later in the day. Meanwhile the us armed forces chief warned of fresh attempts by terrorist outfits to push India and Pakistan into a military conflict. Admiral Mullen, who is in New Delhi on his two-day visit, said the Mumbai attack had showed how a small group of terrorists could have a strategic impact. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff told this to reporters on board his plane bound for New Delhi. Calling Lashkar-e-Toiba an emerging larger, regional, global threat, he expressed concern over merging of terrorist organisations in the region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Earlier, US Special Envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, who was also visiting India, had compared the Lashkar-e-Toiba to the Taliban. Admiral Mullen also said he was in New Delhi a few days after the terror attack in Mumbai in November 2008 and that he was impressed by the Indian restraint during and immediately after the attack. Admiral Mullen is expected to work on three defence pacts between India and the US ahead of President Barack Obama’s New Delhi trip in November this year. These pacts, which have been deadlocked, are the Logistics Support Agreement, the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement and the Basic Exchange and Co-operation Agreement for Geospatial Co-operation.
News On AIR | July 23, 2010 2:28 PM
US warns of fresh attempts by terror outfits to push India, Pak into military conflict