Terrorists entered India via Nepal
Sixteen terrorists allegedly entered India via Nepal and proceeded to Kashmir in the first six months of last year--says a fresh release of US diplomatic cables by whistleblower website Wikileaks.
Sixteen terrorists allegedly entered India via Nepal and proceeded to Kashmir in the first six months of last year--says a fresh release of US diplomatic cables by whistleblower website Wikileaks.
Former Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor made this assertion during a meeting of the then US National Security Advisor James Jones with Defence Minister AK Anthony and defence ministry officials.
The meeting took place on June 26 last year in New Delhi. A cable on the meeting sent three days later was released on Saturday by Wikileaks.
The release termed ‘secret’ was based on a discussion Jones had with Anthony on the India-US security situation and Pakistan.
Replying to a query by Jones on the percentage of infiltrators from Pakistan that manage to get through, Kapoor estimated it to be around 15-20% but cited the challenge posed by India’s open border with Nepal.
“He asserted that at least 16 terrorists this year entered India through Nepal and then travelled to Kashmir,” the cable mentions.
Kapoor also stated that there were 43 terrorist camps in operation in Pakistan, 22 of them in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
While there has been no reaction yet from Nepal government on the Wikileaks release, it reiterates India’s worry of the open border with Nepal being used by terrorists to enter the country.
“Nearly 20-30 Nepali passports go missing every day and since the document is of inferior nature, they could be used by terrorists to enter India as Nepali citizens,” said a senior diplomat recently.