Indian Home Minister meets US Secretary for Homeland Security

The Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, during his recent visit to the United States of America, met senior government functionaries including the Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Muller.

In the dialogue with the Secretary, the two leaders emphasized that cooperation between India and the United States in internal security was a key pillar of the India-US Global Strategic Partnership. They also recognised that such cooperation was imperative, in view of commonality of the threats that confront the two countries. They welcomed progress made over the recent past in developing practical steps to enhance the security of the citizens and to prevent the misuse of increasingly-interconnected global financial, transportation and communication systems. Both the countries agreed to enhance cooperation in capacity building programmes and to identify technologies and equipment useful for Indian law enforcement agencies to source in the United States.

During the dialogue two leaders received reports from the six sub-groups that constitute the Homeland Security Dialogue and welcomed progress being achieved in substantive terms. They applauded the fact that specific cooperation programmes were identified and emphasised the need for results from this Dialogue.

Shinde invited Secretary Napolitano to visit India in 2014 to co- Chair the next round of the Dialogue. Both the countries agreed to carry out a review of the process a few months before that, under the stewardship of Union Home Secretary and the US Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Shinde also met Director of FBI, Robert Muller and reviewed areas of cooperation and issues of interest. The FBI and Indian agencies have remained in close contact, and it was agreed that the process of inter-agency cooperation would be developed further, in this context.