US President Barack Obama’s visit to India is just a few weeks away and New Delhi and Washington DC are sparring over at India’s anger at what it perceives is the US’s selective sharing of intelligence information.
United States President Barack Obama’s visit to India is just a few weeks away and New Delhi and Washington DC are sparring over at India’s anger at what it perceives is the US’s selective sharing of intelligence information. The cause of the rift is reports that US counter-intelligence agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), had kept silent for years about the identity of David Headley, who played a key role in the run-up to the 26/11 attacks.
Some, however, are not surprised. Former army chief General (retired) VP Malik told DNA that intelligence sharing is always selective and given out depending on what the giver gains from sharing. “The build-up leading to the Kargil war was well known to the US but nothing concrete was shared with us till the end, when we started fighting and gave the Americans proof of Pakistani presence and after which, the US could not keep quiet,” he said.
Incidentally, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) has been silent on the revelations that the US kept Headley’s identity secret, terming it a home ministry affair. “In our country, the MEA is idealist while the armed forces are realist and there has always been a difference of opinion between the MEA vis-&vis the ministries of defence and home,” Malik said.
According to recent reports on Headley’s confessions, he has spoken about the ISI masterminding the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 and that senior ISI [Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence] bosses had visited Lashkar-e-Toiba militants in prison the attacks. Pakistan had arrested a few LeT militants soon after 26/11, but insisted that the ISI had no connection with the attacks.
Gen Malik wondered why India was surprised to learn that the ISI had masterminded the 26/11 attacks. “There should be no doubt about it,” he said.
Headley’s wives have claimed that they had informed the authorities about his links to terrorist groups, his visits to Mumbai for reconnaissance, and that the FBI was aware of his earlier name (Headley was born Daood Gilani). New Delhi is angry that Washington did not share any of the information, including the fact that Headley’s earlier name was Daood Gilani and that he was of Pakistani origin.
Headley’s American wife said that Headley was active with the LeT, had trained in terrorist camps with the same group that carried out the attacks in Mumbai, and bought night vision goggles.
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