The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday, August 26, concluded a two-week seminar with 20 top Indian forensic scientists, with the goal of advancing the U.S.-India counterterrorism relationship through close collaboration between forensic science laboratories and training institutions. The exchange included tours of premiere U.S. forensic institutes, and focused on innovative techniques to identify human remains and extract critical details that can be used as decisive evidence in an investigation. As part of the training, the Indian team traveled to the U.S. and visited the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command (JPAC) in Honolulu, Hawaii, where they learned the latest techniques and equipment used by the U.S. military to analyze human remains and estimate age at death, ancestry, and stature. Following JPAC, the group toured the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Department and discussed cutting-edge methods in forensic pathology, skeletal recovery, autopsy techniques and laboratory and evidence procedures. The seminar concluded at the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team received practical training in the areas of human decomposition and postmortem interval estimation techniques, forensic entomology (affects of insects), and post-mortem scavenging and bone weathering.After the seminar concluded, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to India Ambassador Peter Burleigh stated, “Training and exchange programs like this one reflect our shared interest in fighting the scourge of international terrorism and bringing terrorists to justice. Terrorist groups and transnational criminals continue to threaten our two great democracies, and it is only through joint effort and close collaboration that we can maximize our shared forensic and investigative capabilities to prevent attacks and prosecute terrorists.”The U.S. Embassy’s FBI’s Attaché, Daniel C. Clegg, accompanied the Indian team to the U.S. and remarked, “I was impressed by the high level of collaboration between the U.S. and Indian teams on this tour. The FBI strongly believes that today’s transnational crime and terrorism threats can only be defeated through a cooperative vision and the fusing of international capabilities. In a time of crisis, it’s these close working relationships that foster an immediate and effective response.” Exchanges such as this are one of several on-going areas of cooperation between the U.S. and India in counterterrorism and policing/
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