India and the United States are strengthening cooperation to track drug-trafficking networks and prevent chemicals used to manufacture synthetic narcotics from entering illegal supply chains, the White House said in a readout of bilateral talks, IANS reported on November 11.

Source: IANS

Officials identified closer intelligence sharing, coordinated law enforcement operations and safeguards for pharmaceutical supply chains as priorities at the second India-US Drug Policy Executive Working Group meeting, held in New Delhi on November 2-3 and hosted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The two sides also reviewed emerging trafficking threats and agreed on measures to curb drug demand, according to the NCB statement reported by PTI on November 10.

Source: PTI (NCB statement, Nov 10)

India's delegation was led by NCB Director General Anurag Garg, while Debbie Seguin, acting deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), headed the American team. Cooperation is "vital to disrupting transnational drug trafficking networks and preventing the diversion of synthetic drugs and chemical precursors into global markets," ONDCP Director Sara Carter said.

Source: White House ONDCP readout via Nation Press

Garg presented India's Vision Roadmap 2026-2029, which emphasises investigations into entire criminal networks rather than individual drug seizures. The delegations discussed Operation MedMax, carried out in July 2025 using intelligence jointly developed by the NCB and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which uncovered a syndicate illegally distributing regulated medicines across Asia, North America, Europe and Australia, and Operation WIPE, launched in April 2026, which targets online listings of drugs controlled under Indian law.

The meeting was the working group's second; its first session was held in Washington on January 20-21. The two sides also discussed a voluntary code of conduct intended to stop precursor chemicals from being diverted from legitimate commerce. What happens next: the agreed priorities — intelligence sharing, joint operations, precursor control and demand reduction — are to be carried forward under the India-US Drug Policy Framework.