Indian embassy in Paris on full alert: MEA

With reports of a terror attack plot being unearthed against its embassy in Paris, India on Friday said the mission has been "fully alert" to security issues and was in touch with relevant French authorities in this regard.

In response to a query on reports of security threat to its mission, official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin said "the Embassy of India, Paris, has been fully alert to security issues.

"The Embassy also remains in touch with the relevant French authorities in regard to its security. In planning its security requirements, the embassy takes into account all possible threats including those mentioned in the press report," he said.

Akbaruddin said the "ministry is in regular contact with embassies abroad for detailed review of the security situation from time to time. Paris is one of the stations where the security requirements of the embassy are reviewed in consultation with the ministry."

According to a media report, 23-year-old Algerian origin terrorist Mohamed Merah was found to have been plotting to attack the Indian Embassy in Paris on the direction of his Taliban handlers in Pakistan. Merah was shot dead by French special forces two months ago.

Quoting sources in French Internal Intelligence and the Special Forces, Le Monde newspaper reported Merah's Taliban handlers in Pakistan had tasked him to attack the mission.

Merah was killed after police and special forces laid an almost 32-hour siege of his apartment in Toulouse, after his armed attacks on a Jewish school and killing of army personnel outside their barracks on March 15.