deepak pace
DJ_DEE
December 15, 2008
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- India's air force geared up for possible missions against suspected terrorist camps in Pakistan in the immediate aftermath of the last month's Mumbai attacks, U.S. military officials told CNN Monday.
One U.S. official said India's air force "went on alert" following the attacks in Mumbai.
While the officials characterized the actions as preliminary preparations to position the air force if strikes were ordered, the comments indicate that the two nuclear powers were perhaps closer to conflict in the days just after the Mumbai attacks than previously acknowledged.
Three Pentagon officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, have individually confirmed to CNN that the United States has information indicating that India began to prepare air force personnel for a possible mission.
The officials offered very few details, but one said India's air force "went on alert."
A second official said the United States concluded these preliminary preparations would have put India in a position to move swiftly against suspected terrorist camps and targets inside Pakistan, before adding that a number of senior U.S. officials urged India to exercise restraint during this time.
An Indian air force official had no comment for CNN.
CNN sister network CNN-IBN reported last week that the air force had been put on its highest level of readiness and that the aircraft had been armed.
"We are certainly against terrorism but that doesn't mean that we go at war with any country," Indian Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major told CNN-IBN Thursday, adding that any decision on military action would be "up to the government because the air force and the army are there only to carry out the will of the government."
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- India's air force geared up for possible missions against suspected terrorist camps in Pakistan in the immediate aftermath of the last month's Mumbai attacks, U.S. military officials told CNN Monday.
One U.S. official said India's air force "went on alert" following the attacks in Mumbai.
While the officials characterized the actions as preliminary preparations to position the air force if strikes were ordered, the comments indicate that the two nuclear powers were perhaps closer to conflict in the days just after the Mumbai attacks than previously acknowledged.
Three Pentagon officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, have individually confirmed to CNN that the United States has information indicating that India began to prepare air force personnel for a possible mission.
The officials offered very few details, but one said India's air force "went on alert."
A second official said the United States concluded these preliminary preparations would have put India in a position to move swiftly against suspected terrorist camps and targets inside Pakistan, before adding that a number of senior U.S. officials urged India to exercise restraint during this time.
An Indian air force official had no comment for CNN.
CNN sister network CNN-IBN reported last week that the air force had been put on its highest level of readiness and that the aircraft had been armed.
"We are certainly against terrorism but that doesn't mean that we go at war with any country," Indian Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major told CNN-IBN Thursday, adding that any decision on military action would be "up to the government because the air force and the army are there only to carry out the will of the government."