India, US to share list of citizens in terror hubs

NEW DELHI: India and the US will exchange information on their respective citizens who may be going off to Syria, Iraq or any other new terror hotspot. As one of the agreements reached between the counter-terror organizations of both countries in Washington, India and the US will exchange lists of foreign terrorists and terror watchlists.

This agreement is significant. While counterterrorism cooperation between India and the US was ramped up after the Mumbai attacks (2008), this agreement is a deeper look at how each country tracks potential and fully fledged terrorists, both who are citizens and those who may be transiting, like the Indian-origin "recruiter" from Singapore.

The US has been battling a home-grown terror threat as well, including the fact that hundreds of its citizens have apparently joined the deadly ISIS in Iraq. India has been tracking 20 of its citizens who have gone over to fight (though some sources quote a higher figure). The intelligence cooperation will stretch to the defence forces who will now exchange their own sets of information and intelligence.

India is silent on joining the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, but the war on extremism is very much an Indian aim. But India takes a less militaristic approach than the US, partly because of its lesser capacity and partly because of its domestic sensitivities.

The enhanced security cooperation with the US shows the active engagement of national security adviser Ajit Doval, who has been pushing this cooperation. Doval stayed back in the US to take this forward.

The US will also sell the famous MRAP vehicles to India to counter IEDs. Indian officials are looking to use this in the Maoist-hit areas for security forces who are frequently killed in landmine and IED blasts. (US has just agreed to give many of these to Pakistan as well.) India is also looking for new technology to tackle the rash of counterfeit currency that comes into India from Pakistani sources through Nepal and Bangladesh.

The Indian Ocean Dialogue will be held between India and the US to feed into the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) summit to be held in Perth next week. India is very sensitive about the Indian Ocean being its strategic backyard, and recent moves by China to send submarines into the Indian Ocean has put the Indian Navy on alert.

For the first time, the US has offered India high grade technology for the next generation of Indian Navy vessels. The Navy, according to sources, is in the process of building over 40 different classes of warships and destroyers. Indian officials say this is a first, putting a new layer to the defence relationship.

On the business end, Boeing recently signed a deal in Bangalore to build part of the mainframe of the Chinook helicopters in India as well as some sustainable components for the C-17 aircraft, this, before the Chinook deal is finalized. Sources said GE is opening a new manufacture and skilling-integrated plant in Pune in November.