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  Date / Time: 5/6/2009 11:57 PM UTC

  Pakistan 'is taking US for a ride', India believes
  

  Pakistan 'is taking US for a ride', India believes

  The Indian government believes Pakistan is "taking the United States for a ride" in its war against Islamic militants who are now just 60 miles from the capital Islamabad.

   

  By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
  Last Updated: 6:32PM BST 05 May 2009

  

  Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, accused Pakistan's security apparatus of involvement in planning the attack Photo: EPA

  Officials in India say that, despite major military operations in the North West Frontier Province, Pakistan has no will to challenge the Taliban and other jihadi groups because it needs them to carry out terrorist attacks in India and to maintain its influence in Afghanistan.

  The assessment emerged after one of India's public prosecutors applied for an arrest warrant against a senior Pakistan Army officer it believes helped to co-ordinate the terrorist attack on Mumbai last November in which well-trained commando-style "fedayeen" killed more than 170 in a three-day-siege.

   

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  Its investigation into the massacre revealed that a Colonel Sadatullah of the Pakistan Army's Signal Communication Organisation had contacted the terrorists by email.

  Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, accused Pakistan's security apparatus of involvement in planning the attack, which officials believe would not have been possible without their logistical support.

  Officials say Pakistan created both the Taliban and groups like Lashkar e Taiba, which was behind the Mumbai attack, to further its strategic interests in India and Afghanistan, and could rain them in if it had the political will. Instead it is using them to create a sense of panic in Washington which will in turn lead to greater military aid.

  "The Pakistan government wants the world to believe it is less stable and in need of assistance, to be bailed out, but giving them more economic aid is like giving the bottle to an alcoholic," said one source.

  Kanwal Sibal, a former foreign secretary, told The Daily Telegraph there were three types of Taliban in Pakistan – those focused on Afghanistan, those who are pro-Islamabad, and those who are challenging the government. The latter now posed a serious threat to Pakistan, but Islamabad had created them all.

  "There's concern that the United States does not have an answer and giving them more economic aid without any conditions doesn't discourage Pakistan from pursuing reckless domestic policies," he said.

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