United States State Department spokesman Mark Toner's statement has encouraged Indian investigating agencies probing the David Headley case.
Toner had said, "In the past, we've given India full access to Headley, and I think that when a case is in litigation it's impossible to do that. But moving forward, I think we would look for or consider further access."
This is a very encouraging statement for India, since somewhere, during the course of the Headley trial, Indian agencies felt a bit let down when he suddenly went soft on Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.
The trial had begun with a lot of promise, with Headley speaking considerably about the ISI during the first half. However, he later softened his stance, and said that the top management in the ISI never knew about the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Officers who interrogated Headley the last time said that he did not divulge any new information. This was largely because of his plea bargain, and it actually gave him the security not to divulge more than what he had already said.
Thanks to this legality, a lot of questions went unanswered, and there was no more to ask further questions.
"However if at all we do manage to get access to him a second time, the questioning would be slightly different. We would be armed with his testimony, and the Chicago court's verdict," said a source.
The point that India is looking to make in this case is the ISI angle, since India has maintained that the agency was wholly responsible for the attack.
The new prospective could be the Ilyas Kashmiri angle, which is being spoken about in the Pakistani media.
Kashmiri himself had made a claim to the slain Pakistani journalist Salim Shehzad that the Al Qaeda had originally come up with the plan, which was later 'hijacked' by the ISI.
It is a well-known fact that Headley was closely associated with Kashmiri, and they had a lot of interactions during the conception of the 'Mickey Mouse Project' against the Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Indian investigation agencies are keen to get more information on whether Headley and Kashmiri had discussed anything about the 26/11 plot. This would give the case a new dimension.
This would not only attribute the attack to the Al Qaeda but would nail the ISI which eventually cleared or 'hijacked' the attack.
"We are yet to ascertain who Headley's local contact was. This still remains a mystery, and is a vital part of the investigation, since it's unlikely that he and Rana pulled the plan all by themselves," the source added.
