These comments must come as a big relief to the Indian Muslim community who are facing 'the heat' in the wake of arrest of two Bangalore born Muslim doctors in the UK in connection with a terrorist plot in Glasgow. Surprisingly, the Burton-Stewart report found very little mention in the Indian media.

The UK- Bangalore connection is 'not a sign' that Indian Muslims have ventured into the transnational jihadist camp, the report put out by Stratfor emphatically states clearly and unambiguously.

This assessment must please National Security Advisor M K Narayan who has gone on record to say, “There is no Indian Muslim in the Al Qaeda camp”. Al Qaeda believes there is 'no real hope' of stirring up a jihadist 'uprising' in India. 'Al Qaeda is not focusing on India, largely because it believe there is no real hope of stirring up a jihadist uprising there. It is concerned about being betrayed by Pakistani assets in India' the report authors opine. They point out that in spite of the attempts to provoke communal violence inside India by attacking both Hindu and Muslim religious sites, 'the majority of Indian Muslims have not taken the bait—much to the dismay of these militant groups,' Stratfor authors assert.

Fred Burton and Scott Stewart are convinced that the Muslims are, indeed, far more integrated in India than they are in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. "Additionally, Indian Muslims are much more moderate and tend to practice the Sufi form of Islam"

They have a word of advice to the Intelligence Bureau (IB)—"Strengthen field level intelligence and surveillance" for success. "IB has not been terribly successful at developing human assets inside the militant Islamist groups. Moreover, while its senior officers are talented, its large cadre of working-level officers is weak".

Over the past few years there has been a growing nexus between transnational jihadists—al Qaeda and its affiliates—and militant Islamist groups operating out of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Videos footage on al Qaeda and Taliban training camps and interspersed with recordings of Osama bin Laden calling for Muslims to join the jihad have appeared in the Patna and Bhojpur districts of Bihar.

Yet, Stratfor believes that India's Muslim community has not provided a strong radical current for jihadists to exploit. It points out that the Ahmed brothers who are found involved in the Glasgow incident were not radicalised in Bangalore,, their home, or even in Saudi Arabia where they lived for a time. "Rather, they were radicalized while living in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Londonistan has a history of doing that to impressionable Muslim lads".

Therefore, the largest jihadist threat to targets in India right now appears to be Indian Muslims who are radicalized outside India, it concludes. The large number of Indian Muslims studying abroad could include some who will return home as jihadists and infiltrate Western high-tech companies operating in India, according to experts.

A possibility that cannot be ruled out is the danger of Pak and Al Qaeda backed Kashmiri militants aiming at targets in other parts of the country in a bid to undermine India’s IT strengths. Many high tech firms are based in Bangalore, the hometown of the Ahmed brothers—a fact the security directors of the tech firms operating in India have not missed.

After the attacks in the United Kingdom, the authorities here in India have asked the information technology companies in Bangalore and Hyderabad, another high-tech hub, to step up their security. Bangalore police have set up a new counter terrorism. A similar police force has already been set up in Mumbai, the financial hub of the country.

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