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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002116 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, EEB/CIP, AND SCA/INS 
STATE FOR STAS 
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KSCA TSPL PGOV PRIL PTER ECON ECPS SOCI IN
SUBJECT: India Pursues Homeland Security Technologies 
 
REF: New Delhi 2007 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  During a spirited discussion at an October 9 
Federation of India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)- hosted 
conference on Science and Technology (S&T) for Homeland Security, 
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Secretary G.K. Pillai acknowledged 
the need for changes to make the government of India (GOI) as 
adaptable as the terrorists it is facing.  Secretary Pillai 
highlighted Indian market opportunities in the security technologies 
sector, and his hopes to link industry with the end users that need 
its products.  Recent MHA and Ministry of Science and Technology 
(MoST) activities suggest this is a growing market and a ripe 
opportunity for U.S. engagement.  However, Post notes that 
technology advances will have limited effect on preventing terrorism 
if India fails to effectively address policy and procedural 
deficiencies as well.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
MHA LOOKS TO TECHNOLOGY FOR COUNTERTERRORISM SOLUTIONS 
 
¶2.  (U) Secretary Pillai said at the FICCI-sponsored event that the 
terrorism threat in India is huge and that India faces a 
deteriorating security environment.  He announced that the 
Government has several big projects underway, including establishing 
the National Intelligence Grid and upgrading the "NIC" (Note: he did 
not provide any further information on this organization. End note) 
into a National Counter-Terrorism Center, but said that there is 
still a long way to go because India is dealing with an adversary 
that is equally as smart and much more adaptable.  He noted that the 
government is not technology savvy, that the procurement process is 
cumbersome and ineffective, that technology rarely makes it into 
operational use, and that the MHA is just now coming to grips with 
how to update its procurement process to take advantage of new 
technologies. 
 
¶3.  (U) While the Indian market for security technologies is huge, 
the challenge is to effectively match industry and end users to 
produce products tailored for "the Indian situation."  To address 
this, Secretary Pillai said he has instructed the police and 
paramilitary forces to set up dedicated technology wings to identify 
their current and future technology-related needs.  He also 
announced the establishment of a task force to be headed by former 
MHA Secretary Mr. Madhukar Gupta that will figure out how to link 
industry and government.  Secretary Pillai's remarks followed 
presentations by Mr. Gupta and Mr. Sushil Jiwarajka (Chairman of 
FICCI's Innovation Committee) which enumerated the terrorist attacks 
in India over the last several years, pointed to the 26/11 attack in 
Mumbai as a "wake up call" for the government, and decried India's 
lack of security-related technologies as a surmountable obstacle to 
a more secure country.  He also followed presentations by Mr. Steve 
Swain (Security Innovation Technology Consortia, UK) and Mr. Avi 
Shavit (Head of Homeland Security, Israeli Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Labor) on how the UK and Israel have addressed the issue 
of technology for homeland security. 
 
 
INEFFECTIVE POLICIES AS MUCH A BARRIER AS MISSING TECHNOLOGIES 
 
¶4.  (U) In a vibrant and spirited discussion, participants were not 
shy in sharing their experiences with security technologies.  Delhi 
Police Joint Commissioner Mr. Karnal Singh provided several examples 
of government technological ineptitude.  He cited a particular case 
in which he tried to exploit a mobile phone and was told by MHA that 
it was technologically impossible but when he contacted the phone 
company directly, company officials said that they had the necessary 
software there to do it immediately.  A Bangalore police official 
said that the technology and training being discussed was not passed 
down to the working level, and that his police station did not even 
have an Internet connection, for example.  He called on the MHA to 
 
NEW DELHI 00002116  002 OF 002 
 
 
provide the constabularies with more training and access to basic 
technologies.  This point was echoed by an unidentified audience 
member who said police training in India is very poor, and that the 
entire police training system needed to be overhauled to provide 
better and more frequent training if police were to effectively 
respond to a terrorist attack.  An Indian border agent pointed out 
that his unit was testing several new technologies for video and 
thermal surveillance, but had so far found that all of them were 
designed for indoor use and not suitable for the border environment. 
 Mr. Ted Collins, President of Interact Public Safety Solutions, 
Pvt. Ltd, noted that if India waits for the government to find the 
solutions, it won't happen; solutions and innovations will come from 
partnerships between private companies. 
 
¶5.  (U) Captain Raghu Raman, CEO of Mahindra Special Services Group, 
pointed out that destroying the terrorists doesn't solve the larger 
problem of terrorism.  The key focus must be on identifying, before 
an event ever happens, the people who create and control terrorists. 
 Commissioner Singh said that oftentimes the police know who these 
people are, including their phone numbers, addresses and car license 
numbers, but that they are not allowed to do anything about it.  Mr. 
Raman responded that technology must emerge from doctrine, and that 
the government must put in place policies that will address the root 
causes of terrorism because technologies themselves will not fix 
this problem.  Mr. Collins, agreed, noting that no technology would 
ever replace good basic police work. 
 
 
THE FUTURE OF AIRPORT SECURITY 
 
¶6.  (U) Mr. Praveen Khandelwal, Deputy General Manager (IT) of the 
Airports Authority of India described his efforts to secure airports 
through the integration of all airport computer systems into a 
single Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC).  He said that AOCC 
will bring together all airport systems - from access control to 
building management to passenger manifests - and will require a 
significant change in the business process as well as a great deal 
of employee retraining and new roles for airport managers.  The 
agreement to implement the system in the first two airport test beds 
of Kolkata and Chennai has been finalized, though his said his staff 
plans to finish defining the new business model before the AOCC is 
implemented. 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The MHA and MoST have recently begun to express a strong 
interest in collaboration on security technologies (REFTEL.) ESTOff 
was told at this conference that the MoST is preparing to announce a 
new funding initiative for security technologies to stimulate this 
type of research.  Industry clearly sees great opportunity in this 
sector but, as Secretary Pillai pointed out, the government 
bureaucracy is not well poised to take advantage of the opportunity. 
 Technology advancements will not by themselves solve the GOI's lack 
of appropriate counterterrorism policy, poor coordination between 
agencies, and chronic lack of training for first responders. 
Regardless, it is a step in the right direction and presents an 
opportunity both for grass-roots implementation of security 
capabilities and for engagement by U.S. businesses.  END COMMENT. 
 
Roemer