NEW DELHI: India and the US on Thursday signed an “arrangement” for exchanging of terrorist screening information, adding a new chapter in the growing relationship between the two countries.
According to sources, the arrangement had been hanging fire for the past one year because of the US’s reluctance to share its information from the Terrorist Screening Centre’s (TSC) database. Sources said the database included names, nationality, dates of birth, photos, fingerprints and passport numbers of terror suspects.
As per the “arrangement”, both sides shall provide each other access to terrorism screening information through the designated contact points, subject to domestic laws and regulations.
“It is being called an arrangement and not an agreement because information sharing will still be subject to the domestic laws and regulations,” a source said.
The Intelligence Bureau will now be able to access internet-related data held by US services. The “arrangement” was signed by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and US ambassador Richard Verma.