Chairman of United States India Political Action Committee says there should be a more aggressive and transparent sharing of information between the US and India.
Dubai — Members of the Indian-American community hope that President Barack Obama’s visit to India leads to greater cooperation on counter-terrorism and security issues, according to the chairman of one of the US’s largest Indo-American lobbying groups.
Sanjay Puri, the chairman and founder of the United States India Political Action Committee (Usinpac), told Khaleej Times that he hoped that Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi would work towards greater intelligence sharing between the two countries.
“There should be a more aggressive and transparent sharing of information between the US and India,” he said.
Puri also said he hoped that the US would send a stronger signal to the government of Pakistan regarding cross-border terrorism into India.
“Just before President Obama’s plans started coming out a few weeks ago, the United States issued a statement to Pakistan for them to be careful of doing any cross-border terrorism because Obama was coming,” he noted.
“I would think that the signal should be to lay off cross-border terrorist activities, period,” he said. “That should be another agenda item”.
In addition, Puri called for a clear arrangement between the two countries in terms of cyber-security following a rash of high-profile hacking incidents in the US.
“It’s happening in India without Indians even realising,” he said. “The United States can help in terms of sharing technologies, breach points and countermeasures that they have learned. That would be an important thing, as India really needs to fortify its cyber defence.”
A March 2014 report by security software company Arbor Networks found that cyber attacks against Indian government institutions had spiked 136 percent over the previous year. Attacks on financial service organisations were found to have gone up 126 percent.
Puri added that Obama’s Republic Day visit and meeting with PM Modi offers the American president a chance to cement the US-India relationship as part of his legacy. “President Obama really works on personal relationships,” he said. “In his last two years, he’s put a lot of significance into this relationship, and he values this relationship from a legacy standpoint,” he said.
Usinpac, a bipartisan group, represents the interests of 3.2 million members of the Indian-American community in the US.
Source: Khaleej Times