PTI | US fears theft of bioweapons from Indian labs due to lax security
London, Dec 17 (PTI) Lax security at Indian laboratories sparked concern among American officials that India could be a target of biological weapons as much as a source of bio-terrorism material, according to secret diplomatic cables made public by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.
According to documents sent from the US Embassy in New Delhi that was published today by the British newspaper The Guardian, US officials raised concerns that terrorist groups could take advantage of weak security at Indian laboratories to steal bio-terrorism material.
The June 8, 2006 cable titled, ''India behind on bio-terrorism preparations but taking some steps'', said the advances in the biotech sector and the "large Indian industrial base combined with weak controls make India as much a source of bio-terrorism material as a target."
It said the possibility of bio-terrorism attack in India could not be ruled out, despite Indian experts believing that groups operating in India not focussing on bio-terrorism.
"Advances in the biotech sector and shifting terrorist tactics that focus on disrupting India''s social cohesion and economic prosperity oblige the GOI (Government of India) to look at the possibility of terror groups using biological agents as weapons of mass destruction and economic and social disruption," according to comments in the leaked diplomatic cable.
"The plethora of indigenous highly pathogenic and virulent agents naturally occurring in India and the large Indian industrial base -- combined with weak controls -- also make India as much a source of bio-terrorism material as a target," it said.
Besides, the cable said that India''s ''notably weak'' public health and agricultural infrastructure coupled with high population density means that a deliberate release of a disease-causing agent could go undetected for quite a while before authorities become aware.
"According to the Ministry of Agriculture, India is particularly vulnerable to agriculture attacks. Moreover, lack of communication, coordination and cooperation among key stakeholders from different sectors will continue to remain a major impediment to the GOI''s capacity to respond to a bio-terrorism attack," the cable says.
The secret cable noted that the impact of a biological attack or accidental release of a disease-causing agent in India could be devastating, given the high population density in Indian cities and the growing mobility of India''s middle class. PTI