By IANS
New Delhi : The cabinet Thursday approved the signing and ratification of a treaty on mutual legal assistance between India and Australia.
“The treaty will improve the effectiveness of both countries in the investigation and prosecution of crime, including crime related to terrorism, and instruments of crime, through cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi told reporters here.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
India has already signed similar mutual legal assistance treaties with a host of countries, including the US, Russia, Britain, France, Canada, South Africa Switzerland, Turkey, Canada, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
India and Australia agreed to conclude a mutual legal assistance treaty last year at the height of a controversy involving Mohammed Haneef, an Indian doctor who was detained for his alleged link to the foiled Britain terror attack, and later freed when charges could not be established.