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India Backs US in Fight Against Terrorism: Minister
New Delhi said on Sunday it would stand solidly with the United States in its fight against terrorism but Washington had not yet made any specific request for logistical support in the light of possible retaliatory strikes in Afghanistan.
"We stand solidly with the United States and the international community in its fight against terrorism," External Affairs and Defense Minister Jaswant Singh said in an interview with the Cable News Network (CNN).
On a question whether the United States had sought any logistical support following reports of possible strikes in Afghanistan, Singh said New Delhi had not yet been asked for anything specific.
The minister said Indo-U.S. relations were based on values of democracy and human rights, which were not temporary issues.
Media here reported today that the Indian government was ready to provide, if asked, "turnaround facilities" for airborne operations against Afghanistan.
According to Hindustan Times daily published on Sunday, India has already provided the United States with satellite telephones intercepts of conversations between militants in Kashmir and their agents in Afghanistan, video recordings which showed training camps in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and detailed evidence of
negotiations with Taliban during hijack crisis in 1999.
At all-party meeting on Saturday, the left parties reportedly stressed that Indian soil or airspace should not be used for strikes against any country though both the ruling parties and the opposition unanimously supported the government's resolve to fight
terrorism.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee assured the opposition that national interest would be the sole criterion in formulating India's
response to the situation in the wake of the terrorist attack
on the United States.
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