By IANS,
New Delhi : The rapidly worsening security scenario in Pakistan and the increasing Talibanisation of large swathes of the country’s tribal areas are expected to dominate discussions between top Indian and US officials here Wednesday.
U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, come to India after visiting Pakistan and Afghanistan will meet up with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan.
Mullen will also hold talks with Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta separately, with counter-terrorism continuing to be on the agenda.
Officials in the external affairs ministry said all engagements will take place Wednesday and the Indian side will be keen to present its feedback on various dimensions to US President Barack Obama’s new Af-Pak policy announced last month.
India’s immediate problem is the security crisis in Pakistan, where terror strikes are taking place with increasing regularity and Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud warning that the group would carry out two suicide bombings per week to protest the drone attacks by US forces from neighbouring Afghanistan.
The security establishment believes there is a real danger of the violence spilling over into India, with reports indicating that infiltration could go up along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir in the coming weeks.