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NEW DELHI (AFP) - A foreign ministry source reported that Michael Sheehan, chief of the U.S. taskforce on counter-terrorism, arrived in New Delhi Monday as part of an ongoing Indo-U.S. effort to jointly fight what it calls terrorism. Sheehan, during a four-day trip, will hold talks with the chiefs of India's national intelligence and law enforcement agencies, spokesperson R.S. Jassal told reporters. "At the beginning of this year, India and the United States agreed to form a joint working group to counter terrorism and Mr. Michael Sheehan's visit should be seen in that context," Jassal said. Jassal said Sheehan would also call on India's foreign secretary and home secretary, and is likely to have exhaustive discussions with members of India's finance ministry which is responsible for "keeping an eye" on the illegal narcotics trade along India's porous international borders. Both countries hope to develop a shared, focused approach to fighting cross-border crime and international drug trafficking during the course of Sheehan's visit. The working group was set up in February following a meeting between India's Foreign Minister, Jaswant Singh, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbot in London, earlier the same month. Sheehan's visit comes close on the heels of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to Washington earlier this month, where he reiterated India's commitment to fighting international crime and terrorism. A bilateral extradition treaty already exists between the U.S. and India. India suspects that some of the cross-border Muslim fighters in disputed Kashmir are linked to fugitive billionaire Osama bin Laden, who heads Washington's official list of most wanted. Some of the items discussed in the talks may include recent events blamed on Pakistan. One of these issues is the United States belief that a group supported by Pakistan's military regime was behind the December hijacking of an Indian Airlines jet from Nepal, which ended after seven days in Afghanistan. Washington has pledged to help New Delhi bring the hijackers to justice. |
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