Would do anything to bring Mumbai attackers to justice: US

Washington, Dec 12: The US today said it wants to see the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack brought to justice and will do anything to support India in this regard.

"...we want to see the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack brought to justice and obviously continue to want to do anything we can to support Indian authorities in that task," State Department spokesman John Kirby said yesterday when asked about David Headley turning approver after being pardoned by a Mumbai court.

Headley is currently serving 35-year prison sentence in the US for his role in the Mumbai terror attack. When told that Headley may provide a great deal of information about the attack, Kirby said, "I don't have anything specific and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on an ongoing court case like that anyway."

"Again, we share an interest in seeing the Mumbai attackers being brought to justice – a terrible, dastardly terrorist attack," he said. Kirby said India is a very close friend and partner.

"I think it's self-evident in recent years that both our countries have fallen victim to terrorist attacks and continue to need to be on – to be vigilant about terrorism perpetrated against our citizens, and so it makes perfect sense that we would look for ways to cooperate more closely and to improve the flow of information between our two countries," he said.

Asked if the State Department was playing any role in intelligence and information sharing on terrorists as mentioned by Indian defence minister Manohar Parikkar after his meeting with US Defence Secretary Ash Carter, he said, "I can't speak for the Defence Department.

As for the State Department, we have – we maintain good, strong relations with our counterparts in the Indian Government.

"I won't speak about intelligence matters, but I can tell you that that relationship remains strong, remains vibrant, and the Secretary’s interest is very clear in making sure that the relationship continues to strengthen and grow going forward across a wide range of issues, not just security issues," he added.

PTI