WIKILEAKS-MULFORD 2 LST

The cable said that the US "offered forensic and
investigative support to India in the wake of the Samjauta
train bombings, but India refused."
"One of the most important tasks we will have with India
at the CTJWG (Counter-Terrorism Joint Working Group) is to
reinforce that we must make this relationship reciprocal.
"We must keep in mind that it will be a slow process
to build the kind of trust necessary with India to achieve the
relationship that we are seeking, but we must reinforce to our
Indian counterparts the positive direction we seek for our
partnership," it said.
Another consideration to keep in mind is that the US
perception of India's "lack of cooperation on US CT
(counter-terrorism) concerns often stems in part from India's
lack of capacity to manage these issues bureaucratically.
India just this month began to stand up a Counter-Terrorism
Cell in the MEA office of International Organisations," the
Ambassador wrote.
"The Cell was put in place largely to manage India's
new Counter-Terrorism Joint Mechanism with Pakistan, including
bringing India's intelligence agencies in line with the Prime
Minister's thinking on India's relations with Pakistan," he
said.
This Cell will now bring five additional people on
board to manage these issues, although all of the arrangements
are still being handled by just two officers, he said.
"Additionally, India's police and security forces are
overworked and hampered by bad police practices, including the
widespread use of torture in interrogations, rampant
corruption, poor training, and a general inability to conduct
solid forensic investigations," the Ambassador wrote.
India's most elite security forces also "regularly cut
corners to avoid working through India's lagging justice
system, which has approximately 13 judges per million people.
"Thus Indian police officials often do not respond to
our requests for information about attacks or our offers of
support because they are covering up poor practices, rather
than rejecting our help outright," he said.
Mulford said India's traditional concerns over US
engagement with Pakistan and "longstanding distrust" left over
from the Cold War-era between their intelligence communities
have been difficult to overcome.
However, the "sustained increase in acts of violence
by political and religious extremists in India have demanded
better cooperation on counter-terrorism," he said.
"In a recent meeting, your counterpart, Ministry of
External Affairs Additional Secretary (International
Organisations) KC Singh, mentioned favourably the idea of
semi-annual meetings between GOI and S/CT, and he clearly sees
the US CT relationship as among India's most important.
"Improving our counter-terrorism cooperation is a
crucial step in building the strategic relationship President
(George W) Bush envisions with India, and your visit offers us
an excellent chance to do so," he said. PTI