U.S. to help India face new security challenges
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Washington has agreed to throw open its specialized agencies for advanced training in a range of skills. Three months after the U.S.- India Homeland Security Dialogue in Washington, India is all set to send its officers to various agencies across American federal organizations to sharpen their skills and acquire new ones to better fight terrorism.
Indian officials and security officers should be visiting the U.S. soon for training in an array of courses — from cyber security, megacity policing and forensics, to critical infrastructure protection, financial terrorism and anti-terrorism intelligence.
According to the Hindu, the U.S. government has agreed to give Indian officers access to its specialized agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, particularly the Georgia-headquartered Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), to help them deal with the challenge.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, created after the 9/11 terror attack, along with the FLETC has fashioned several advanced courses. “We have identified around a dozen departments and organizations whose officials would take part in these programs…The U.S. has also agreed to help us in creating specialized training institutions to develop skills in various anti-terrorism measures. Sharing of technology for technical surveillance, capacity building and technology development will also be a part of the U.S.- India cooperation,” the official said.
Broadly, the U.S. programs will deal with four aspects of terrorism — ‘Global supply chain, transportation, port, border and maritime security,’ ‘Megacity policing and sharing of information among federal, State and local partners,’ ‘Illicit finance, smuggling of cash, financial fraud and counterfeiting,’ and ‘Cyber security and critical infrastructure protection.’
Indian officials who will participate in these programs will be drawn from various law enforcement agencies and government departments, including the National Security Council Secretariat, the National Investigation Agency, the Intelligence Bureau, the National Technical Research Organization, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the paramilitary and State police forces, the Customs, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the Enforcement Directorate, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the Ministry of Telecom and Information Technology, the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.
Another area of focus would be in cyber security and critical infrastructure protection, where training modules would comprise best practices in cyber security and cyber forensics, advance course in technical surveillance counter measures, control systems security program for end-to-end network and systems security for servers, routers, switches, transmission and all information and communication technology (ICT) hubs and facilities.
