This Article is From Apr 02, 2010

No decision yet on giving Headley access to India: US

Washington:
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Noting that the US is committed to share full information with the Indian government on Headley-Rana case, a top Obama Administration official has said that no decision has been taken on giving Indian intelligence agencies access to David Coleman Headley.

The US national of half Pak descent has been charged by the federal prosecutors for being involved in Mumbai terrorist attack in November 2008 that killed more than 160 people.

"We are very much committed to full information sharing with the government on that. However, no decision has yet been made on the question whether they will have direct access to David Headley.

The US Department of Justice is working with the government of India to discuss the modalities for such cooperation.

But again, no decision has been made on that," the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, told foreign reporters here.

"We understand that there's a lot of information that Headley has that is of great interest to India, particularly because he was scouting out some possible sites.

And so, obviously, the Government of India has great interest in anything to do with that.

We have a great interest in sharing as much information as we can on that," Blake said in response to a question.

Blake, however, said the government of Pakistan does remain committed to prosecuting these individuals who were responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attack.

Blake, who was recently in India, said he talked a lot about the US-India relationship and encouraged New Delhi to continue to open its economy, and that that will help to attract foreign investments and create jobs.

"It will also help us to export more to our friends in India," he said.

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