By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : The United States has hinted it’s none too happy about Indian officials going public with disclosures made by key Mumbai terror attack plotter, Pakistani American David Coleman Headley, to Indian investigators.
“Well, we value the cooperation between India and the United States on law enforcement and combating terrorism; it’s important,” State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley told reporters Wednesday.
“It does place responsibilities on both countries. We fully expect both countries to live up to their respective responsibilities,” he said when asked to comment on reports that the US was angry about Indian officials giving out details of the Headley interrogation.
“I understand. I’m not going to comment specifically on it,” Crowley said when pressed about comments made by Indian Home Secretary GK Pillai and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon on Pakistani spy agency ISI’s role in the planning of 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Asked if the statements given by senior Indian officials on Headley case were a breach of the understanding over the Headley investigation, he said: “I’m just going to simply say that our cooperation is significant.
“It is a vital dimension of our relationship. It’s important for both sides. And when – and in this cooperation there are responsibilities that we both have, and I’ll leave it there.”
Asked if he was aware of the statements given by Pillai and Menon, Crowley said: “Yes” without elaborating.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])