India was an al-Qaida target: US cables

NEW DELHI: The latest WikiLeaks US embassy cables have revealed that India was on the hit-list of al-Qaida and a bio-terror target.

US embassy cables of May, 2006 said, "India is now an al-Qaida target." Referring to the then ministry of external affairs (MEA) additional secretary KC Singh's remarks, the cable said, "Singh opened by noting that India is becoming more prominent on al-Qaida's radar," pointing to Ayman al-Zawahiri's April 29 video message praising popular jihadist movements against Indians in Kashmir and calling India 'the best candidate for carrying out the Zionist-Crusader scheme to humiliate, weaken, and dismember Pakistan'.

The cables also referred to the then joint secretary Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Sharad Kumar as observing that "al-Qaida franchises, if not al-Qaida proper, are and have been very active in India.

He defined 'al-Qaida franchises' as groups that espouse the same extremist ideology and share some logistical and funding infrastructure even while remaining discrete organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad."

Besides, the cable shows that the Indian jihadi groups were 'interested in bio-terrorism'. The then MEA additional secretary (international organizations) KC Singh reported that Indian intelligence was picking up chatter indicating jihadi groups were interested in bio-terrorism, for example seeking out like-minded PhD's in biology and bio-technology.

He compared the prospects for nuclear terrorism ("still in the realm of the imaginary") to bio-terrorism ("an ideal weapon for terrorism anthrax could pose a serious problem").