US and India sign pact for exchange of intelligence on terror on a real time basis that include biographic information of terrorists.

United States and India have signed a key agreement for exchange of intelligence on terrorism on a real time basis that include biographic information of known and suspected terrorists.

The agreement was signed by the Union Home Secretary, Rajiv Mehrishi and Ambassador of the United States of America to India, Richard Verma.

The agreement would enhance the counter-terrorism cooperation between India and US. Both sides shall provide each other access to terrorism screening information through the designated contact points, subject to domestic laws and regulations, as per the pact.

There have been several rounds of discussions between US and India during the past one year and both sides have narrowed down their differences on several key issues with the signing the pact

With this 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 US has already finalised such agreements with 30 countries.

What is Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 ?

Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6) is the US policy to protect against terrorism which develop, integrate and maintain thorough, accurate and current information about individuals known or appropriately suspected to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism. The HSPD-6 is a model text agreement for

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.

TSC is a multi-agency organization administered by FBI which consolidates several terrorist watch lists maintained by different US government agencies into single terrorist database on terror suspects.

The database includes the name of the terror suspect, nationality, date of birth, photos, finger prints (if any) and passport number.

Earlier some Indian security agencies had expressed their reservations about the agreement, saying the arrangement primarily protects US interests.

However, later, the security agencies agreed that there was no harm in entering into the proposed pact with TSC. The Intelligence Bureau will be the nodal agency and designated as the Indian party to the agreement.