The Al Qaeda - India Tie

LeT is part of al Qaeda compact: Narayanan

New Delhi, Aug. 11 (PTI): National Security Adviser M K Narayanan tonight said the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), which is active in India, is part of the "Al Qaeda compact" and is "as big as and omnipotent" as the international terror network.

"The Lashkar today has emerged as a very major force. It has connectivity with West Asia, Europe....actually there was an LeT module broken in Virginia and some people were picked up. It is as big as and omnipotent as Al Qaeda in every sense of the term," he told NDTV.

He was asked whether Lashkar is part of Al Qaeda and whether it has gone beyond Pakistan.

Asked how significant was the Al Qaeda connection in India, Narayanan said LeT was the "most visible manifestaton" of the of the Al Qaeda in India.

"There are some other groups also which are linked with the Al Qaeda which are present in India. But for us other groups plus the Lashkar, the Al Badr and others which have links with the Al Qaeda which is a kind of an amoeba kind of a thing, a large kind of a thing. You have all kinds of people participating in it and outside it for one major cause the cause of terrorism as such," he said.