United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday paid rich tribute to late Dalip Singh Saund -- the first Asian American United States Congressman -- and described him as a trailblazer for the entire Asian American and immigrant community.
The United States embassy in New Delhi has informed US Senator Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is not eligible to receive a diplomatic visa. Aziz Haniffa reports.
In a rare honour, and perhaps unprecedented in the annals of Indian diplomacy in the United States, Ambassador Nirupama Rao will travel to Gainesville, Florida, on Friday to deliver the graduation address to the University of Florida's Doctoral Degree Commencement Ceremony.
On Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, asked at the regular noon briefing if Clinton would be replying to Walsh and if the US would review its position in 2005, when it refused Modi a visa to come to the US, said: "Our position on the visa issue hasn't changed at all."
India's Ambassador to Washington, DC, Nirupama Rao and her team are doing everything to avoid American wrath, and the resultant legislation of sanctions, against India for not whole-heartedly joining the US-led efforts to isolate Iran. Aziz Haniffa reports
Leading think tanks put a question mark on the India-US strategic partnership. Aziz Haniffa reports
George Perkovich, vice president, studies, and director, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, believes that with the United States-India nuclear deal in limbo, the lack of convergence between Washington and New Delhi on Iran, climate change, the World Trade Organisation, and stagnation of defence cooperation, the US-India relationship has indeed been oversold.
The Obama administration's point man for counterterrorism, Daniel Benjamin, has said that America's relationship with Pakistan "is very complex," even as Congress has said its patience with Islamabad "is wearing thin."
On the urging of his Indian American constituents, particularly hoteliers who have origins in Gujarat and are ardent fans of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a United States lawmaker, Congressman, Joe Walsh, a right wing conservative Republican, and is the darling of the Tea Party Movement, has launched a campaign to prevail on the Obama administration to grant a diplomatic visa to Modi. Aziz Haniffa reports
United States lawmakers feel that India had also failed to use its non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council to demonstrate why it should be a permanent member
Corporate America does not believe that the United States-India relationship has been oversold, but that it's certainly over-hyped. However, it is more concerned over New Delhi's recent actions such as retroactive taxes and predicts all of this will lead to foreign direct investment drying up at a time when India needs it more than ever.
'Clearly our relationship is founded on democratic values and a shared history that we have in promoting these values,' Nancy Powell said, but added, 'our economic and commercial relationship has been of great importance.'
The government of India in welcoming the new United States ambassador to India, erstwhile India and South Asia hand, Nancy J Powell, has said that while India would not be new to her, it would not be the same either, considering the transformational changes India has undergone.
In a scathing critique of 'the incoherence of the US government' and the 'dysfunctional organisation', Stephen P Cohen, considered the doyen of South Asia experts in Washington, said the continuing missteps were a no-brainer.
Noted journalist, scholar and author Ahmed Rashid has said that Pakistan is still caught up in a Cold War time warp and still wants to be dependent and a surrogate of some big power.
62-year-old Fai was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release by a court in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC.
A senior Republican lawmaker, who is the author of a bill in the United States Congress, calls for independence for Baluchistan from Pakistan and says he still strongly supports independence for Kashmir, reports Aziz Haniffa
Pakistan harbouring Osama bin Laden was the straw that broke the camel's back and led to the irrevocable trust deficit between the United States and Pakistan, says Louie Gohmert. Aziz Haniffa reports
The government of Pakistan has been providing weapons and resources to radical Muslim elements, who use them against Americans, says US Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who declares he was once Pakistan's best friend. Aziz Haniffa reports