India is anticipated to bring up the usage of digital space and how terrorist groups are using it to recruit, fund, and propagate extremist ideologies during the Homeland Security Dialogue (HSD) with the US.

On February 28, a government delegation from the United States will be in India for a Homeland Security Dialogue with representatives of the Union Home Ministry.

The discussions are significant since they are the first formal gathering between a US government team and the Central government this year, and they take place after a two-year break.

The conversation is also being keenly watched since it takes place months after US federal prosecutors claimed that an Indian citizen and an unidentified Indian official were involved in an abortive attempt to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil.

Leading authorities from both countries will participate in the Homeland Security Dialogue (HSD). Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kristie Canegallo will lead the US government team, while Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla will lead the Indian mission.

According to sources cited by Indian Express, India has identified a number of topics for discussion in the Homeland Security Dialogue (HSD) with the United States. Among them are:

Criminals abusing their asylum status; pro-Khalistani elements engaging in terrorist activities within India; aid in apprehending the assailant of the Indian Consulate in San Francisco; Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian businessman of Pakistani descent, who is seeking extradition; terror fugitives and terror finance investigations.

According to persons with knowledge of HSD’s inner workings, as reported in the Economic Times, India is anticipated to provide a list of over a hundred law enforcement agencies’ wanted fugitives who have sought refuge in the US.

Along with other topics, the two parties are anticipated to talk about their cooperation in the areas of cyber security, illegal immigration, aviation security, global supply chains, and marine security.

India is also anticipated to bring up the usage of digital space and how terrorist groups are using it to recruit, spread extremist ideologies, and generate funds for terrorism during the HSD.

The Indian side will reveal the narcotics seizures made by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in an effort to gain cooperation from the US narcotics Enforcement Administration (DEA). After receiving information from the US DEA, NCB recently seized drugs valued at Rs 75 crore.

India will also draw attention to hacks that have targeted its vital infrastructure, including hospitals, banks, trains, and electricity and energy systems.

In the past, non-state actors from China, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Myanmar have targeted critical infrastructure.

India will also talk about new and developing forms of terrorism and violent extremism, the use of unmanned aerial systems to perpetrate terrorist actions, and the use of cryptocurrencies by entities to fund illicit operations using the dark web with the US delegation that will be in the country for HSD.

The heads of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Narcotics Bureau, National Investigation Agency (NIA), and Internal Security will be attending HSD from India.

According to an official quoted in the Indian Express report, the US will talk about counter-narcotics, immigration, border and group supply chain security, cyber security, trade and economic security, child sexual exploitation, human trafficking, law enforcement investigative cooperation, immigration, counter-Khalistani elements, and proposals for electronic travel documents.

The last meeting on homeland security took place in January 2022.

The most recent India-US HSD took place in January 2022.

In 2010, the India-US Counterterrorism Initiative was signed, and as a follow-up, the two nations introduced the HSD. In May 2011, the first India-US HSD took place.

When NIA Director General Dinkar Gupta met with Christopher Wray of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) last year, they discussed a variety of topics, including US investigations into the attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco by individuals supporting Khalistan.

Gupta further emphasised the ongoing relationship that was expanding to the US between terrorist groups and terrorist elements and members of organised crime syndicates.