New Delhi: Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor on Tuesday warned that 26/11-type Mumbai terror attacks were a
possibility and that India has to take all steps to counter
such strikes.
"We have to take all steps to prevent any Mumbai-type
attacks. We cannot rule out apprehensions of such
possibilities," Kapoor told reporters here on the sidelines of
an Army function.
To a question if there were any terror alerts in the
recent times, he said the South Asian region is infested with
terror groups. Be it India, Afghanistan or Pakistan, "we have
to collectively battle such threats."
Noting that Pakistan too had come under terror attacks in
recent times, he said both Defence Minister AK Antony and
Home Minister P Chidambaram had asked us to be cautious
against such threats.
To allegations from Pakistan Army that they have seized
some Indian-made weapons from terrorists involved in recent
attacks, the Army Chief said India had no intention of causing
trouble inside Pakistan and that it did not support any terror
group in the region.
"We want Pakistan to be stable and peaceful," he said.
On the Naxal menace, Kapoor said the Army would continue
to train paramilitary forces to fight against the Naxals and
it would be an ongoing process.
"The battle against Naxals will not be over in one day. To
eradicate Naxalism, it is going to take time. It is going to
be a long drawn battle," he said, giving examples of counter-
insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast
which had gone on for decades.
He said providing strategy and equipment to paramilitary
forces in the fight against Naxals would be a futuristic
option.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 13:04