Former deputy chief of army staff, Lieutenant General (retired) Raj Kadyan, on Monday maintained that a terrorist should be dealt with like a terrorist, indicating that while it was alright for intelligence agencies to seek confirmation at all times about assumptions about the origin of such suspects, including Asim Umar, the head of al-Qaeda's new wing in the subcontinent, action should be seen to be taken on the ground against such elements.
"I think first this information needs to be confirmed by our intelligence agencies. Secondly, assuming that this information is correct, well it could be India is 125 crore people, anybody could go from here to Al Qaeda," Lieutenant General (retired) Kadyan.
"All the same no terrorist threat should be taken lightly and I am sure whatever the journalist says now disclosed in the seminar, our intelligence agencies will take it appropriately seriously and will go to the root of it," he added while reacting to Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir's claim that Asim Umar, head of al-Qaeda's new wing in the subcontinent, is of Indian origin
Lieutenant General (retired) Kadyan further said that Indians have earlier been in terrorist attacks in India itself, and added that Indian Mujahideen is a very common example.
"We have also arrested people who belong to India. So, this is no surprise that one of them could rise to higher leadership levels, so it is nothing of concern. But it is yet to be confirmed by the intelligence agencies. That's no big deal whether the man belongs to India or from some other country. If he is a terrorist he is a terrorist," he said.
Lieutenant General (retired) Kadyan also pointed out that unless Pakistan's Inter- Services Intelligence co-operates with Al Qaeda, the latter which is trying to find a footprint in India will find it difficult to find a base in India.
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"Al Qaeda was in disarray after elimination of Osama Bin Laden, they have not been able to find a leader of his standing and his charisma, in fact IS also broke away from Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda as of now has no base in India," Lieutenant General (retired) Kadyan said.
"There are news reports that video from Al Zawahiri had appeared that they are trying to target India or finding a footprint in India, that can only happen if they co-operate with the other terrorist organization like the LeT and the others for operating in India and that has to be under the shadow of the ISI. Unless there is co-operation from the Pakistan intelligence agencies, Al Qaeda is going to find it very difficult to find a footing in India," he added.
In an event organised by a national daily, Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir has claimed that head of al-Qaeda's new wing in the subcontinent is an Indian and that he had met him twice.
Mir also made startling claims that had also offered to stage an attack and invited him to film that for his television channel.
The Al Qaeda's media arm showed Ayman al-Zawahiri, chief of the terrorist group, in a video released last month announced the creation of a new branch of the organization in South Asia.