India-Pakistan -Pentagon India prepared for attack on Pakistan, Pentagon officials think
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, Dec 16, IRNA
United States believes that India's air force began preliminary preparations for a possible attack against Pakistan in immediate aftermath of recent massacre in Mumbai, a US news channel reported here Monday.
Three Pentagon officials individually confirmed to CNN that the United States has information indicating that India has begun preparing air force personnel for a possible mission.
One of the officials said India's air force "went on alert." While, a second official said the United States concluded these preliminary preparations would have put India quickly in the position to launch air strikes against suspected terrorist camps and targets inside Pakistan.
During these preparations, a number of senior US officials were urging India to exercise restraint, which apparently it did, he added.
Commander Mahesh Upasani, an Indian air force spokesman, said the service had no comment on the report.
Until now, the Bush Administration has publicly said it saw no signs of military movement by India and no indication that the Indian government was preparing any type of retaliation.
The Pentagon officials broadly described the activity as checking on the status of crews, fighter jets and weapons that were available.
The extent of the reported preparation was not immediately known.
Also, one of the Pentagon officials confirmed that the United States has intelligence indicating a single Indian aircraft violated Pakistani airspace twice on Saturday.
The United States believes the incursion was inadvertent, the official said, adding that there is no information to indicate it was planned
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