New Delhi, March 2 (IANS) India Friday strongly denied the presence of US special forces teams on its soil, as claimed by an American commander.
The defence ministry said US Pacific Commander Admiral Robert Willard’s claim that US special teams were in India and four other South Asian countries was ‘factually incorrect’.
‘The defence ministry has come across a report relating to remarks attributed to an US armed forces official on the positioning of US special forces teams in various South Asian countries, including India.
‘The report is factually incorrect in so far as the reference to India is concerned,’ the defence ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
‘US special forces teams have never been stationed in India in the past, nor are such teams stationed in the country presently,’ he said.
Admiral Willard was quoted as saying that the special forces were present in five South Asian countries including India.
He said the teams were deployed to help India in counter-terrorism co-operation.
The US and India were working together to contain Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, he said.
