India to build homeland security on US model
Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram will discuss with U.S. officials how to model India's future Homeland Security Agency on the lines of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during a Jan. 9-10 visit to Washington, sources in the Indian Home Ministry said.
Chidambaram replaced Home Minister Shiv Raj Patel as a fallout of the Nov. 26 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Sources said Chidambaram is scheduled to visit U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and with members of the transition team of President-elect Barack Obama.
India plans to set up an intelligence-gathering agency called the National Technical Facilities Organisation that would be similar to the U.S. National Security Agency.
The agency will act as a central agency for coordinating technical intelligence details from various assets of the Indian defense forces and other intelligence agencies, including the Research and Analytical Wing and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Sources added that the U.S. and Israel will be major providers of equipment and weapons being acquired on an emergency basis for homeland security needs.
The $10 billion wish list for homeland security includes a variety of UAVs, combat UAVs, hologram sights, advanced weaponry for urban warfare, and light capabilities in the form of helicopters, aircraft and precision-guided munitions.
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