NSA Ajit Doval stays on in US to plan terror clampdown - India Today

This was the first time that D-company was mentioned in a joint Indo-US statement. India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval stayed on in the US after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to fine-tune modalities for action by the two sides against terror networks like Al Qaeda and the D-company, the group headed by Pakistan-based mob boss Dawood Ibrahim.

A joint statement with President issued after Modi's meeting Barack Obama said the two countries would make joint efforts to dismantle safe havens for terrorist networks and to disrupt financial and tactical support for Al Qaeda, the D-Company, Lashkar-e Taiba, Jaishe-Mohammad and the Haqqani Network.

Doval discussed details of steps to be taken against these Pakistan-based entities during his meetings with American officials, a top government official told reporters on Saturday.

Though official documents issued after meetings between India and the US in the past have contained references to groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, this was the first time that the Dawood Ibrahim led D-Company was mentioned in a joint statement.

It is believed that the group led by Karachi-based Ibrahim was included in the document largely because of the efforts of Doval, an old Pakistan hand.

Doval's discussions with senior US Administration officials are believed to have focussed on a strategy to implement the joint commitment to target terrorist networks and their safe havens.

As part of his interactions, Doval met FBI chief James Comey in Washington on Friday. Though the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the D-Company have for long been major concerns for India's security establishment, Al Qaeda emerged as a new threat after it created a new wing for the Indian subcontinent and said it would target India.

The top government official acknowledged that Doval had "many issues" on his agenda, including the touchy subject of surveillance on Indian entities and individuals, including the ruling BJP, by the US National Security Agency. "He will be taking it (the surveillance) up," the official said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had raised the surveillance with her US counterpart John Kerry during his visit to Delhi in July 31 and told him that it was "unacceptable". The government official characterised Modi's visit to the US as "extremely successful" and a "game changer".

"The visit is set to put India-US ties on a new and higher trajectory," the official said. The official said the United States of America's decision to deny Modi a visa for nearly a decade over the 2002 Gujarat violence did not come in any of the Prime Minister's interactions.

"The Prime Minister has put the issue behind him and holds no grudge against the US the official added.

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