POREG VIEW: This Washington Times report appears significant in the context of a public spat between the Indian Home Secretary and the US envoy to Delhi on matters related to intelligence about David Hadley who made two clandestine visits to India before and after 26/11 attacks on symbols of Indian pride in 2008.  One of his targets was the Tata’s iconic hotel, Taj Mahal, where President Obama would stay during his Mumbai sojourn.

The envoy had said Hadley info was shared with India, and went on to describe India as America’s friend and a strategic partner. By implication his case was that there is no reason for his government to shy away from sharing the Hadley information. The Indian official, on the other hand, maintained that Washington did not share the details either before or after the ‘visits’.

In remarks which may appear as undiplomatic, Home Secretary G K Pillai told a TV channel: “Indian government was disappointed that the name of David Headley was not provided, if not pre-26/11, at least post 26/11…. when he came subsequently in March 2009 to India at least at that time we could have nabbed him here”.

In a manner of speaking what Mr Pillai had said is not new. The same view was expressed by the Indian Minister for External Affairs SM Krishna when he was in New York for the UNGA session. And in that sense Pillai was only echoing the minister, though the backdrop to his interview, namely the visit of President Obama to Mumbai and Delhi and the heightened threat perception, have given a fresh topicality to the Indian ‘disappointment’

Headley made five trips to Mumbai before the 2008 attacks: in September 2006, February and September 2007, and April and July 2008. On each visit, he made videotapes of potential targets, including those attacked in November 2008.

The tip off on Headley visits to India was provided by his two wives to the American law enforcement officials. To the American establishment, Headley is a familiar entity as he was a former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) informant, and was under surveillance for at least two years before his arrest in Chicago on Oct. 3, 2009.

The tip offs came twice, in 2005 and 2007 that Hadley was training with Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and that he also had shopped for night-vision goggles and other equipment.

Since the U.S. officials have been saying that they had learned a lot about the Mumbai attacks from Headley,  the review ordered by James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, is in effect a belated acknowledgement of the ‘gaps’ in communication with Delhi. Also that the information provided was general in nature.

It is going to be a full “after-action review” of everything related to the Headley case, according to Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communication. Such a review will help improving existing processes.