India, ranked a “ticking timebomb” by activists in the global AIDS war, will intensify the fight against the killer disease, ruling Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi said Friday.

Gandhi made the pledge at the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, where India faced accusations of foot-dragging and denial over a disease affecting 5.1 million of its people - the world’s second highest number after South Africa.

“While I do agree there is no room for complacency, I would like to take this opportunity to categorically assert the determination and ability of the government and the people of India to meet this daunting challenge,” she said in a speech.

India has a program to halt the spread of the disease, but over the years HIV/AIDS has moved beyond traditionally high-risk groups such as prostitutes, drug users and homosexuals.

Experts say the most alarming trend is the spread of the disease to rural India, accounting for a high 59 percent of infections in 2003 compared with 41 percent in urban areas.

Knowledge about the illness among India’s one billion people is still scant and sex is the main mode of transmission. Ninety percent of people in India who are infected don’t know it, the experts say.

And, like sub-Saharan Africa, women are at the receiving end of the illness and bear the brunt of its impact. “India is a ticking timebomb because of the huge problem emerging there,” Irene Khan, the head of human rights group Amnesty International, told Reuters in an interview.

She cited a lack of openness on the issue and a “denial syndrome” among authorities who want to brush it aside.

“Underlying all this is discrimination, inequality, poverty and a lack of resources and services. That is an explosive mix of factors that all apply to India,” Khan said.

MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE

Gandhi said many Indians believe HIV/AIDS gets too much attention at the expense of killers such as malaria and tuberculosis.

“The present government does not share this view,” she said, adding that the National AIDS Control Organization had received a boost in funding and would get more.

India had made progress, she said, pointing to wider condom use, plans to increase antiretroviral treatment and AIDS awareness campaigns spearheaded by sports icons and film stars.

“Much is being done, but it is equally true that we need to do a lot more,” she said.

But communities have a responsibility to care for those who suffer and to fight stigma, gender inequality and prejudice, said Gandhi, who heads the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation which operates a mobile clinic program in India.

“I have met people who have lost their jobs, who are ostracized by their communities, who can no longer hope to raise and bear healthy children,” Gandhi said.