FBI DIRECTOR WRAY VISITS NIA HQs, HOLDS EXTENSIVE DELIBERATIONS WITH NIA DG

New Delhi, 12th December 2023: Mr. Christopher A Wray, Director FBI, leading a high-level FBI delegation, visited the NIA headquarters on Tuesday and held extensive discussions with NIA Director General, Mr. Dinkar Gupta and senior officials of both the agencies.

During the meeting, candid and wide-ranging discussions were held on a host of issues, including the acts and activities of Terrorist-Organised Criminal Networks, ongoing investigations in the US in the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, investigation of cyber-terror and cyber-crimes of various kinds.

Mr. Gupta highlighted the active nexus between the terrorist outfits and terrorist elements with members of Organised Criminal Syndicates, which was spreading to the US as well. Mr. Wray said that both the agencies have a lot in common and the similarities are far greater than the differences. On the nexus between terror actors and organised crime syndicates, Mr. Wray said that a blending of lines between terrorists and criminals was now visible in the cyberspace as well. Terror incidents like 9/11 and the Mumbai attacks have changed the way in which nations respond to terror threats, he observed, emphasising on the need to take the partnership and cooperation between the FBI and the NIA to the next level to deal with the constantly evolving challenges and threats of terrorism.

During the meeting, the NIA DG pointed out that threats in the cyber domain were increasing. Digital space was also being effectively exploited by terrorists and extremists for propagating radical views and recruitment, he said, adding that NIA was also seeing use of cryptocurrency for terrorist financing.

Mr Wray added that increasingly, cybercrimes are being committed to fund terrorism. This evolution of the cyber-threat needs a joint response towards investigation of cyber-threat cases, he stressed.

The difficulties encountered by Law Enforcement Agencies across the world in obtaining data from encryption Apps also came up for discussion during the meeting.

The two sides noted that with the advent of newer technologies at a fast pace, tracing, tracking and investigating crypto transactions is turning out to be a huge challenge. Both the agencies recognised the challenges posed by organised crime networks, terror related crimes, cyber enabled terror attacks, ransomware threats, economic crimes and transnational terror crimes.

Mr Wray also remarked that newer challenges mean that there are new opportunities for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) to cooperate in newer ways. He thanked the NIA for the enduring cooperation between the two agencies, and looked forward to exploration of new opportunities to collaborate further.

Mr. Wray also informed the NIA that the FBI was aggressively investigating the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.

DG NIA thanked the FBI for being a very significant partner in the training and capacity building of Indian Police officers. Both agencies agreed to explore increasing its future interactions and collaborative initiatives on the training track.

Director Wray’s visit signifies a step towards deepening the cooperation and shared commitment between the national agencies of US and India to combat terror in all its manifestations around the globe.