File photo of IAF Chief Arup Raha.
Indian Air Force chief Arup Raha today said there was a threat from terror groups such as Al Qaeda but the country is ready to tackle such outfits.
"There is a threat perception from such agencies but the nation is prepared for it," he said when asked about Al Qaeda's threat to start operations in India.
He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on the role of Air Force in the 1965 war with Pakistan.
US media and intelligence agencies had said yesterday that Al Qaeda has established a new branch to wage jihad in India, revive its caliphate and impose sharia in the Indian sub-continent.
The creation of the group called "Qaedat al-Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent" was announced by As Sahab, Al Qaeda's official media outlet, in a lengthy video posted on social media outlets.
Al Qaeda is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the group's leader Ayman al Zawahiri said "Qaedat al-Jihad" would take the fight to India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Security agencies feel the video could be an attempt by Al Qaeda to carry out fresh recruitments in the sub-continent as it stares at diminishing influence vis-a-vis the ISIS.