'LeT, JeM, China to be focus of India-US security cooperation in years to come'

New Delhi, Jan 19 Pakistan-based terror groups and Chinese aggression will be the focus of India-US security cooperation in the years to come, according to a study by a US-based think tank.

"Much of the engagement is presumed to focus on shared counterterrorism interests, particularly the operations of transnational terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and Pakistan-based groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, and information exchanges regarding Chinese threats," stated a study carried out by US think tank Brookings Institution.

The alignment of US and Indian interests on these two principal subjects, together with a pattern of reciprocal exchange, has served to build trust in recent years, the report stated.

It stated that the US should review the state of its intelligence sharing with India, with an aim to identify opportunities to further institutionalise cooperation.

US-India intelligence cooperation has matured significantly over the last decade. Currently, US issues intelligence and warning notices under the "duty to warn" mandate, alerting India of possible terrorist activities or other major threats.

So far there is an existing mechanism between both the countries US-India Counter Terrorism Joint Working Group and Designations Dialogue which brings together the analytic, operational, and legal experts on both sides.

To deepen intelligence sharing with India in ways that are mutually advantageous, both the countries have to adopt "reciprocity".

"Reciprocity is at the heart of sustainable and structured intelligence exchanges, and by regularising bilateral coordination focused on filling collection gaps, both countries could lay the foundation for more meaningful exchanges," the report stated.

The report stated that the first step for new administration led by President Joe Biden should be to review its internal collection priorities to ensure, for example, that the National Intelligence Priorities Framework

( With inputs from IANS )