India to get direct access to Headley soon'

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Apr 28 (PTI) The US has agreed to "take
suitable steps" to give India direct access soon to LeT
operative David Headley who has confessed to his role in the
Mumbai terror attacks.

Addressing India's concerns on the Headley issue, the US
move came following a meeting between visiting Solicitor
General of India Gopal Subramanium and American Attorney
General Eric Holder. Subramaniam is here to explore all
avenues open to India for getting access to the Pakistani-
American.
"The two partners agreed to take suitable steps to bring
about direct access to Indian authorities to David Headley as
soon as possible," the Indian Embassy said in a statement.
India's Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar and US
Department of Justice representatives were also present at the
discussions.
"The discussions have resulted in a mutual commitment
that there would be the best possible cooperation in our
common fight against terrorism.
"The partnership between India and the United States
recognises the high priority to be accorded to each country’s
national security. Both countries recognised the need for the
investigations to reach a fruitful and successful outcome,"
the statement said.
Giving his assessment, Subramanium said "we are
delighted that all concerns have been mutually discussed,
mutually clarified and the entire purpose of the visit has
been achieved and we have a way forward."
The Solicitor General said the US move signals the
beginning of an era of continued cooperation where information
and inputs will have to be shared between different countries
which have common threats, common avenues of danger against
national security.
"The entire exercise, the attitude, the positivism with
which we had our discussions leads me to beleive that everyone
is going to do his best to make sure that truth is unravelled
and that investigations will reach a fairly logical, coherent
and successful end," he added.
Subramanium said the US government is extremely conscious
and viewing India as a partner in the common effort to deal
with 'difficult' terrorist attacks. PTI LKJ