Rahul Gandhi's WikiLeaks remarks behind US' Pak tilt: Narendra Modi

MUMBAI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Saturday alleged that inputs provided by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that "radicalised Hindu groups" could pose a bigger threat than outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba were responsible for the "pro-Pakistan policies" of the US.

"Now it is clear who was prompting USA to speak in favour of Pakistan," Modi said, reacting to US diplomatic cables released by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks on Friday which carried Rahul's remarks about radicalised Hindu groups.

"The whole world was convinced that Pakistan promotes terrorism. They train terrorists and terrorism is the biggest export industry for it," he said on the sidelines of a function here.

Modi said he used to wonder why Americans supported Pakistan all through despite the widely acknowledged fact.

"After WikiLeaks' release, it is known who was guiding USA and providing information about Pakistan, based on which America made an opinion about the country...this is the biggest loss for the country," Modi said without naming Rahul.

Asked if he was pointing an accusing finger at the Congress general secretary, Modi refused to comment.

In a similar reaction here, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray questioned Rahul's credentials for commenting on Hindu terrorism and advised him "not to act too smart".

"Who is Rahul Gandhi," he demanded, adding that he need not point out Rahul's "Italian connections".

Thackeray also warned the Congress leader against attacking Hindus, saying that failure to do so would mean that "they would retaliate and tackle him by the horns".

A conversation between Rahul and US envoy Timothy Roemer was released by WikiLeaks on Saturday in which he had said that radicalised Hindu groups pose a bigger threat than outfits like LeT.