US should tell Pak to dismantle LeT infrastructure: think-tank

LeT's ability to upset stability between India,Pak is greater than terror threats faced by US,says an expert.

Describing Lashkar-e-Toiba as one of the greatest threats to American and Indian interests in South Asia today,an influential think-tank here has asked the Obama administration to tell Pakistan to dismantle infrastructure of this terrorist group inside the country.

8220;Washington needs to consider LeT with the same importance as Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban,8221; Sahibzada Amer Latif,a visiting Fellow at Center for Strategic and International Studies CSIS,told US lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on India last week.

8220;To that end,Washington must apply continual pressure on the Pakistani military establishment to dismantle LeT infrastructure and refrain from using LeT as an asymmetric capability against India,8221; he said.

8220;The current state of US-Pakistan relations will make this difficult in the near term but LeT8217;s ability to upset regional stability between India and Pakistan is arguably greater than other terror threats faced by the US,8221; he said.

Observing that after the spectacular attacks in Mumbai in 2008,the US undertook active shuttle diplomacy to dampen tensions between the nuclear armed neighbours,Latif said another major attack on the scale of Mumbai 2008 that originates in Pakistan could lead to calls from the Indian public for retaliation.

8220;If India was to retaliate or threaten to retaliate,it could also adversely affect US CT efforts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas FATA. Pakistan would most likely divert important assets and troops currently deployed in the FATA eastwards towards the Indian border,8221; he said.

US involvement in Indo-Pak crises has often played an important role,there is no guarantee the US will have the same mitigating effect the next time around,he cautioned the lawmakers.

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8220;The recent attacks in New Delhi and Mumbai revealed that India has much work ahead to build the necessary capabilities to thwart another terror attack. Despite Indian government commitments after the Mumbai 2008 attacks to invest billions of dollars into building CT and coastal security capabilities,

the recent attacks have demonstrated that India8217;s ability to detect and deter terror attacks appears to have only marginally improved,8221; he said.

8220;For Washington,asking Rawalpindi army to also aggressively pursue the dismantling of LeT as vigorously as militants in the FATA could stretch Pakistani capacity and detract from Washington8217;s primary aim of disrupting al-Qaeda AQ and the Afghan Taliban in the FATA,8221; Latif said.

8220;While Washington realizes the danger that LeT poses to regional stability and has been vocal about bringing the Mumbai attackers to justice,it still does not meet Indian expectations of placing it on an equal plane with Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban,8221; Latif added.