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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
India has 'politely declined' US insistence that American troops conduct joint operations with their Indian counterparts to flush out Al Qaeda terrorists, who have sneaked into Jammu and Kashmir, according to a top government official.
The official, who is presently interacting with American leaders on counter-terrorism, told rediff.com that American officials started putting pressure for joint operations after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah said that Al Qaeda militants have sneaked into the state.
He said that Francis X Taylor, the US state department coordinator for counter-terrorism with the rank of ambassador-at-large, told the Indian leadership that US forces should be involved along with their Indian counterparts to eliminate the terrorists.
He also said that Taylor wanted key US counter-terrorism personnel to be stationed in Srinagar.
However, according to the official, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told Taylor that Dr Abdullah's remark was an 'off-the-cuff one' and made in his personal capacity.
Singh also argued that with the Indian forces on alert along the Line of Control, it would not be easy for the Al Qaeda militants to sneak into India.
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