US presses India on cyber security

New Delhi: In day-long talks on internal security on Friday, the US pressed India on cyber security while India reiterated its demand for access to David Headley and his associate Tahawwur Rana, both accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Both countries deliberated on capacity building, cyber security, civil aviation, bulk smuggling of cash, fake currency notes, customs and technology, officials said on condition of anonymity.

Last month the US announced a bounty of $10 million for the arrest and conviction of Saeed. Headley and Rana are in US jails and Indian investigators have questioned Headley once. India is seeking custody of both Headley and Rana.

“Their main thrust was on cyber security,” said an Indian official. “They were more interested in India’s capability to detect and investigate cases related to cyber crime. Their concerns are justified as back offices of many US companies are located in various parts of the country. It is likely that India and the US will share more on the technology front as they pledged more cooperation.”

The ministry of home affairs has said cyber security cases are on the rise and India is slowly building capability to fight these by setting up more cyber forensic labs and cyber police stations.

This is the second round of India-US homeland security talks. In May last year, homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano led a delegation to India for talks with home minister P. Chidambaram.

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After the conclusion of Indo-US talks on internal security in Delhi on Friday, Mint’s SahilMakkar says the US is pushing India to focus on cyber security, while India is demanding access to suspects in the 2008 Mumbai attack

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“This year we went into reports of subgroups on the six issues. The progress was reviewed and further decisions were taken. Among the key developments was customised training of India’s elite commando unit National Security Guards (NSG) in the United States,” said another official.

“The US also offered exposure to its storage capacity of fake currency notes. They store and keep data of each fake dollar. India has to eventually build this capability to fight the menace of fake Indian currency notes. India has to study what other countries in Europe are doing to deal with counterfeit notes,” the official added.

Both the officials cited above said that India and the US will now share scanning technology and incidents at airports to check the flow of bulk cash.

sahil.m@livemint.com