'US-India expanding their anti-terror co-operation'

Mumbai, Sep 11: Describing terrorism as an assault on free societies of the World, US Ambassador to India David C Mulford today said his country and India were expanding their anti-terror co-operation.

''We are sharing sensitive and forensic information. The US understands the pain and loss caused by terror attacks in this country,'' Mr Mulford told a gathering held in memory of victims of 9/11 terror attacks in New York five years ago.

He added that the 9/11 strike was a brutal terror attack on the United States in which 3,000 innocent people, including Indian nationals, were killed.

The US Ambassador also critisised the terror attacks in India. He said India has been viciously attacked when bombs were exploded to kill and maim unsuspecting passengers in suburban trains in Mumbai two months ago and more recently in Malegaon.

''The victims of 9/11 attack came from 90 different countries and belonged to different faiths. Terrorism is not an attack on individual countries, but an assault on a free society everywhere in the world,'' he said.

''Our two countries have regularly reaffirm our commitment to defeat destructive designs,'' he added.

Maharashtra Chief Secretary Dr D K Shankaran said much before New York on 9/11, Mumbai had witnessed a terrorist attack 13 years ago and similarly the Indian Parliament, Jammu and Kashmir Legislature were also targeted.

''Terror attacks in India are aimed to divide the civil society and ensure that there is a communal discord. People in Malegaon and Mumbai gave a strong message to the terrorists that they will not succeed in their designs,'' he added. He also called it a coincidence that exactly 100 years ago Mahatma Gandhi launched his Satyagraha movement in South Africa.

Mumbai North-west MP Priya Dutt said Gandhiji's Satyagraha movement which dealt with non-violence and truth was so powerful that the entire world was drawn to it. She lamented the spread of terrorism throughout the world.

Maharashtra Director General of Police Dr P S Pasricha, Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy and Consular General of United States of America in Mumbai Michael S Owen were present on the occasion.

UNI

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