India-US: The Headley fly-in-the-ointment

Suspicion has been gaining ground for quite some time now in India that the so-called 'defining relationship of the 21st century' that the United States likes to tom-tom in respect to its relationship with India is in reality nothing more than word-play designed to keep India subservient to  over-riding US concerns in the Indian sub-continental region.

Nothing confirms this suspicion more strongly that a small matter related to a certain US double agent called Daood Syed Gilani, aka David Coleman Headley.

Less than a fortnight before US president Barack Obama visits India, Indian home secretary GK Pillai has once again asserted that Washington never shared specific information regarding Headley with India.

Had the US passed on information regarding him, Pillai said, he would have been arrested during any of his nine visits to India between 2006 and 2009, and the 26 / 11 terror attacks could have been averted.

Pillai said India was "disappointed" with the US action.

Headley visited India eight times before 26 November 2008 and even visited again in March 2009. His were reconnaissance missions for the 26 / 11 attack and in the course of these visits he made videos of 50 targets for the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).