By Manish Chand and Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : India pressed the US for access to David Coleman Headley, a key plotter of the Mumbai attacks, and flagged off its key concerns on terrorism emanating from Pakistan when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday met US President Barack Obama.
The delegation-level talks led by Manmohan Singh and Obama were held in Blair House, the presidential guest house across the street from White House and lasted 45 minutes.
The meeting took place on the eve of the Nuclear Security Summit that aims at securing the world from loose bomb-making materials.
Manmohan Singh and Obama sat at the centre of Garden Room, flanked by their respective delegations. The eight-member Indian delegation included National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, India’s ambassador to the US Meera Shankar and senior officials of the external affairs ministry.
The 11-member US delegation included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Advisor James Jones, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake and senior officials.
Meeting ahead of the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit, Manmohan Singh and Obama also discussed how to secure nuclear material around the world so that it does not fall into the hands of terrorists.
Manmohan Singh is understood to have sought Obama’s nod for direct access to 26/11 plotter David Coleman Headley, who is currently in the US custody.
India believes the direct interrogation of Headley will help it to unravel the fuller conspiracy behind the Mumbai attacks. The US has not made up its mind on the issue and has maintained that there are legal procedures to be followed.
Manmohan Singh began his four-day visit to the US Sunday, his sixth visit to the country during his prime ministerial tenure.
More than a month after India and the US sealed a pact on reprocessing US-origin spent fuel, Manmohan Singh and Obama also reviewed remaining steps required to implement the landmark India-US nuclear deal.
Manmohan Singh is understood to have conveyed India’s core concerns on Pakistan-origin terrorism and the proposed plan for reintegration and reconciliation with the Taliban that could adversely affect regional stability.
Amid Pakistan’s concerted propaganda offensive aimed at scaling down India’s presence in Afghanistan, India has made it clear that New Delhi’s stakes in Kabul’s stability can’t be held hostage to any outside pressure.
Obama, on his part, enlisted India’s support for a renewed US-led drive to impose fresh sanctions against Iran, suspected of developing nuclear weapons.
In a fine balancing act, Manmohan Singh acknowledged that the Iranian nuclear programme posed threat to regional stability, but advocated dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the impasse.