Reply #5: US think tank sees ‘real’ threat of war

[tekisui]

Dec. 20 (PTI): The possibility of Indian military strikes against Pakistan is “very real” and “palpable”, leading US think tank Stratfor has said.

Stratfor has termed the action taken by Islamabad against the Lashkar-e-Toiba as “token” and said New Delhi was “unconvinced” by it.

India is not likely to be satisfied with the banning of a couple of militant groups and a “few insincere” house arrests, it added.

“Pakistan has taken some token measures against groups India asserts were responsible for the November attack in Mumbai, but India (and the US) remains unconvinced,” said Stratfor, a private intelligence agency that provides strategic inputs on business, economic, security and geopolitical affairs.

“The threat of an Indian military strike is very real. All available eyes need to watch for troop movements…. The diplomatic posturing continues, but the threat of war is palpable.”

India says Lashkar carried out the Mumbai strikes, an assertion supported by Britain and other world powers, but Pakistan claims there is no evidence.

Stratfor said the militant groups that were under Pakistani spy agency ISI’s control several years earlier had now increased their autonomy and spread their networks inside India.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081221/jsp/nation/story_10282044.jsp