India and the US on Thursday signed a key pact for exchange of intelligence on terror on a real time basis that include biographic information of known and suspected terrorists. The co-operation arrangement between the Indo-US security and intelligence agencies for exchange of terrorist screening information was signed by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and US Ambassador to India Richard Verma.
As per this pact, India and the US will provide each other access to terrorism screening information through the designated contact points, subject to domestic laws and regulations, an official pokesperson said. The agreement would enhance the counter terrorism cooperation between India and the US.
With signing of the key pact, India has formally entered into the US Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 (HSPD-6), which will enable it to access ‘unclassified biographic information of known and suspected terrorists’ maintained by the US on a reciprocal basis. The HSPD-6 is a model text agreement for exchange of terrorist screening information between Terrorist Screening Centre (TSC) of the US and an Indian agency.
There have been several rounds of discussions between the interlocutors of the two countries in the past one year and both sides have narrowed down their differences on several key issues with the aim of signing the pact. The US has already finalised such agreements with 30 countries.