Readout of Secretary Napolitano’s Trip to New Delhi

NEW DELHI – Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano visited New Delhi on May 25-27 to launch the first-ever U.S.-India Homeland Security Dialogue—a critical step forward in the ongoing partnership between the United States and India to strengthen homeland security and counterterrorism collaboration and ensure the safety and security of both nations.

“The United States and India face common threats, and we must work together to develop common strategies to protect our mutual security,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Through the Homeland Security Dialogue, we will continue to expand upon our work together on issues including protecting cyber networks, securing the global supply chain, and policing our largest cities in order to enhance the safety and resilience of communities and citizens in both of our nations.”

In New Delhi, Secretary Napolitano joined Indian Minister of Home Affairs Palaniappan Chidambaram to launch the Homeland Security Dialogue—the first comprehensive bilateral dialogue on homeland security issues between the United States and India. During the Dialogue, Secretary Napolitano and Minister Chidambaram highlighted the efforts of both nations to secure the global supply chain, develop best practices and resources for effective policing in large cities, eliminate the trafficking of illicit goods and materials, and continue to develop and protect critical cyber infrastructure.

As part of the Homeland Security Dialogue, Secretary Napolitano also met bilaterally with U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer, Indian Minister of Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal, Minister of Finance Pranab Mukherjee, Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurien Antony, and Indian Ministry of External Affairs Foreign Secretary Nirumpama Rao.

On Thursday, Secretary Napolitano met with leaders of the Indian private sector and attended an industry breakfast hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council and the American Chamber of Commerce in India to highlight the Department’s continued engagement with the private sector partners in India on issues including critical security infrastructure protection to ongoing U.S.-India cybersecurity collaboration and best practices.

In January 2011, Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute visited New Delhi in advance of the Homeland Security Dialogue to meet with Indian officials and underscore the critical importance of the two nations’ counterterrorism partnership. Moving forward, the United States and India will continue to foster this important dialogue to develop new and effective ways to strengthen global security.

Earlier this week, Secretary Napolitano visited Mumbai, where she commemorated Indian law enforcement personnel who lost their lives in the devastating Nov. 26, 2008 terror attacks in a wreath laying ceremony at the Mumbai Police Memorial, and met with Indian officials, including Maharashtra State Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Home Minister R.R. Patil, and Commissioner of the Mumbai Police Arup Patnaik, to discuss security best practices and continued collaborative counterterrorism efforts between the United States and India.

Throughout her trip, Secretary Napolitano has been briefed regularly by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate, FEMA Deputy Administrator Rich Serino, and other senior officials on disaster relief operations in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas following the recent storms and tornadoes.