By IANS,
Washington : India Thursday conveyed its displeasure to the US over Pakistan’s reluctance to take action against militants arrested for their role in the Mumbai terror attacks and letting their mastermind go free.
Indian Home minister P. Chidambaram, who met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, other government officials and key lawmakers on his second day in the US capital, said he was overall “pleased with the level of interest shown by the officials and leaders of the US administration to the security issues that confront India”.
Addressing the media after the talks, Chidambaram said he had briefed US leaders on the quick progress made in the Mumbai terror trial and Pakistan’s reluctance to take action against five to six militants arrested for role in 26/11 and releasing their mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
Over 170 people, including 26 foreigners, were killed in the Nov 26-29, 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Asked whether he sought US pressure on Pakistan, he said the US administration “understands the difference between the way India approached the post 26/11 situation, and the way Pakistan has approached”.
The home minister said no fresh dossier on Pakistan’s role has been given to the Americans.
“The dossier has already been shared with many countries, including the US and the countries whose citizens have been killed in Mumbai. Even the sixth dossier has been shared with 16 countries, including the US,” he said.
Chidambaram said they also discussed the issue of money-laundering, with the US promising to support India’s membership of Paris-based Financial Anti-Terrorism Act (FATA) to combat the problem.
He said no new agreement was on his agenda as the two countries were already working through a joint working group on terrorism.
Stressing that his mission was to deepen intelligence-sharing ties, he said: “I requested them for closer cooperation in matters relating to sharing of intelligence, sharing analysis of intelligence and working together to improve skills of scientists, technicians and investigators.”
The home minister, who Wednesday met FBI bosses, lauded the role of the US agency after the Mumbai attacks.
The FBI played a vital role in analyzing DNA samples and decoding GPS instruments used by terrorists, he said.
Chidambaram said two FBI officers have deposed in the Mumbai trial and India will maintain its deep relationship with the agency.
He said he also learnt valuable security tips from the New York Police Department (NYPD) to protect India’s mega-cities against terrorist attacks.
“I was quite impressed with what they have done (after 9/11). Some of the practices can be applied to India’s mega-cities like Delhi, Mumbai, etc.”
The home minister added, “I go to India with lots of ideas, and I hope it will be possible to implement these ideas.”
One such idea, he said, was to set up a nodal counter-terrorism centre on the lines of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) in the US.
“The NCTC is an ambitious programme. We have a small operation by the name of multi-agency centre. But it is not yet as technology-driven as the NCTC. Ideally I would like to have an NCTC kind of operation which is technology driven.”
Apart from Hillary Clinton, Chidambaram also met Senate intelligence committee chairman Dianne Feinstein, Senate homeland security committee chairman Joe Lieberman and House intelligence committee chairman Sylvester Reyes during the day.
He meets Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Friday before leaving for India.