`US can learn from India’s tackling of Punjab, Kashmir’

NEW DELHI/LONDON - The US has said that it can learn from India for successfully tackling insurgencies in Punjab as well as Jammu and Kashmir, revealed an American embassy cable put out by WikiLeaks.

The Feb 23, 2007 cable reproduced by The Guardian said the US was using “every opportunity available to signal our interest in learning from India — which has successfully tackled `asymmetrical’ insurgencies in Punjab and Kashmir”.

It said the US efforts “will go a long way to reduce distrust and may prompt Indian officials to be more receptive to our offers of support” vis-a-vis counter-terrorism.

“There is much India could offer us of value to strengthen our counter-terrorism efforts.

“For instance, they can give us more information about the nature of the terrorist threat in India and South Asia, and help us develop new strategies for defeating terrorists derived from India’s experience in Kashmir.

“They also may have information about Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Sri Lankan and Pakistani terrorists that they could share.”