Posted on 03/30/2002 9:19:19 AM PST by Jean S
Defense Minister George Fernandes said on Saturday that India has "enough reports" that al-Qaeda and Taliban elements would sneak into Jammu and Kashmir.
"We have enough reports that al-Qaeda and Taliban elements have moved to Pakistan. There are enough reasons to believe that they are looking at Pakistan as transit route into Jammu and Kashmir," Fernandes told reporters in Bangalore.
Fernandes said this while ruling out de-escalation of troops on Indo- Pak border until Pakistan ended cross-border terrorism and handed over 20 terrorists sought by India.
Fernandes said, "If there is a genuine desire at the global level" to end terrorism, terrorists caught or identified had to be punished for acts of terrorism.
"The US is still searching for one terrorist - Osama Bin Laden and Pakistan is walking hand in hand with the US in search of him," the Defense Minister said. But, he noted, Pakistan had responded negatively to India's requests to hand over the terrorists.
Fernandes was in Bangalore to dedicate the indigenously developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) "Dhruv" to the nation with the Indian Air Force (IAF) receiving the next generation helicopter at a function at HAL.
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