-Caveat Lector- Assalamu'alaikum India to Allow U.S. Use of Military Facilities http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20010914_144.html By Y.P. Rajesh NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will allow U.S. military forces to use its facilities if it needs them in any operations launched in retaliation for the terror attacks in New York and Washington, an Indian defense ministry source said on Friday. "It was discussed...at the Cabinet Committee on Security yesterday (Thursday) before it was agreed," the source said. "Of course, it depends on whether the U.S. wants to use our facilities," the source told Reuters. Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, sheltered by nearby Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement, is a prime suspect in Tuesday's attacks which killed thousands. Earlier, the Times of India newspaper quoted Defense and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh as saying New Delhi would provide logistical help, or act as a staging ground, for any U.S. military operation. "There have been contacts at all political, executive and operational levels about this," Singh said. He declined to give details saying it was a "very sensitive matter." Washington and New Delhi, on opposite sides during the Cold War, do not share a formal military relationship but ties between the two countries have improved considerably over the last year. Defense analysts said India had to support Washington because it also had been a victim of terrorist attacks. "We have a moral, political and constitutional obligation to help fight terrorism," Jasjit Singh, a retired air commodore who heads the New Delhi-based Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses, told Reuters. India is struggling to quell a 12-year-old bloody rebellion in the Himalayan Kashmir region and is also battling violent rebels in the remote northeastern region for the past 50 years. India frequently accuses Afghan mercenaries of fighting alongside Kashmiri Muslim separatist guerrillas and allege they receive support from bitter foe Pakistan. Over 30,000 people have been killed in the mountainous state in violence. The country's capital New Delhi and provincial capitals have long been a favorite target of rebels attacks. ACCESS TO AIR BASES The Indian defense source said he expected Washington "to ask New Delhi for use of air bases for refueling of transport aircraft and launch of air strikes by fighter jets." "Pakistan and India are the only two countries that are close to Afghanistan for use by American forces," the source said. "The entire geo-political matrix of the region has changed after the attacks this week." Pakistan, India's nuclear rival and one of only three countries to recognize the Taliban government, has pledged full cooperation with the United States in fighting terrorism. During the Gulf War, India allowed U.S. transport aircraft to refuel in Bombay. That decision to help Washington sparked off a domestic political storm in India. Analyst Jasjit Singh, said much had changed between now and the Gulf War. "That was during the Cold War era and the U.S. had attacked another country...with whom we had good relations," Singh told Reuters. "But that does not mean we condoned Iraq's aggression." Singh said India had allowed U.S. air force aircraft to refuel at not just in Bombay, as widely believed, but at several other airports and air bases in the country. "We could not make it public then because we had 250,000 Indians living in Kuwait and efforts were on to evacuate them," Singh said. "This time it is not a war against a country but against terrorists and terrorism." He said the move may be exploited by Muslim groups as an attack against Islam and increase threats to India. 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