US Pacific Command head Admiral Robert Willard announced today that US special forces have been deployed to India, along with Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, as an effort to fight the Lashkar-e Taiba (LeT), a militant faction mostly active in Kashmir.

 

Though Willard was very clear about there being teams deployed to India, the US Embassy and the Indian Defense Ministry later denied the claims, saying that there are no US troops of any type inside India.

 

The revelation is already causing political waves in India, with the opposition Communist Party demanding to know why parliament wasn’t consulted. The External Affairs Ministry’s statement that the US never sought nor had India approved any deployment seems difficult to believe.