On the eve of the 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to be held in Colombo August 2-3, the US has said it does not believe SAARC is ineffectual and irrelevant and a farce as some in the West and in the region itself contend--who dismiss it as nothing but a group photo-op every few years--and is confident it can grow to be as powerful and influential as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Congressman Jim McDermott, who represents Washington state -- who incidentally voted against the enabling legislation also known as the Hyde Act two years ago -- said, "The likelihood of Congress taking up the nuclear issue again before the end of the year is, it will be very difficult."
Pro-deal lawmakers like Congressman Gary Ackerman continue to express their angst over the close India-Iran ties. The lawmakers have warned that this could be a spoiler to the envisaged strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi.
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com, Richard Boucher, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, who is the Bush administration's point man for the subcontinent and who has taken charge of pushing the deal in the US Congress, said, "We are going to work with the Indians, we are going to work with the Congress and we are going to take this as far as we can go."
Neel Kashkari, who was the Senior Advisor to US Treasury Secretary Henry M Paulson, was nominated by President Bush to the post of Assistant Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs and has been confirmed by the US Senate.
Thirty-two young leaders from India and Pakistan who have just completed a three-week conflict resolution programme in Maine under the auspices of The Seeds of Peace programme, were felicitated at the State Department by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher, who hailed them as the leaders of tomorrow and the catalysts of peace in a region beset by conflict for far too long.
Senator Joseph R Biden, Jr, the chairman of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who will be the key player in moving the US-India civilian nuclear agreement forward in Congress if India succeeds in getting in back on the Congressional court expeditiously, says it may be possible to get the deal consummated this year, but that it's going to be in terms of a best-case scenario a photo-finish.
The Indian American community and US business that had lobbied feverishly for the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, are euphoric over the recent developments where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided to go ahead with the accord come what may and even in the wake of the Left coalition partners withdrawing their support and leaving the country in a state of political uncertainty.
The campaign said that, "the committee is comprised of diverse American communities of supporters, including those from Asian-American, South-Asian American, and Pacific Islander background, who will help raise funds to elect Senator Barack Obama as president and to strengthen and expand the Democratic Party."
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom -- a Congressionally mandated body -- has urged the US State Department "to reaffirm its past decision to deny a tourist visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has been invited to attend a conference in New Jersey this August celebrating Gujarati culture."
Neera Tanden, 38, one of Senator Hillary Clinton's closest aides and confidantes, has joined the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama and will relocate to the campaign headquarters in Chicago this week. Sources told rediff.com that unlike Clinton's former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who was pushed out of the campaign and then jumped on the Obama campaign bandwagon, Clinton backed Tanden's decision to join the Democratic presidential nominee
Sant Chatwal, millionaire hotelier and close friend and fund-raiser for the Clintons for several years, has assured Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama that the Indian American community will raise over $10 million for his campaign to win back the White House.Chatwal was introduced to Obama by Senator Hillary Clinton at a private meeting between them and Clinton's top donors at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC on June 26.
Leading American experts on South Asia and former senior administration officials have strongly advised United States Congressman Gary Ackerman against lobbying on behalf of the India-US civilian nuclear agreement when he visits New Delhi next week, warning him that such efforts would only make a bad situation even worse. Incidentally, Ackerman has friendly relations with some of the senior Leftist allies of the Manmohan Singh government and members of the BJP.
Cohen, testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs' Subcommittee on International Security on the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and the US-Pakistan strategic relationship, predicted that "Pakistan may decide, as a matter of state policy, to extend a nuclear umbrella -- or engage in nuclear sharing --with one of more Middle East states, especially if Iran acquires a nuclear device."
Amidst growing Congressional concern over the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, US Senator Thomas R Carperas said that "preventing Pakistan's nuclear weapons and technology from falling into the wrong hands should remain top priority." Carperas chairs the Senate Subcommittee on International Security -- an appendage of the larger Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
President George W Bush has appointed Dr Sambhu N Banik of Bethesda, Maryland as a member of the President's Committee of People with Intellectual Disabilities, to serve out the remainder of a two-year term, which is expiring in May 2009. Banik is a noted clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology and counseling at Bowie State University in Maryland.
In the wake of the movement in recent days with speculation rife that Prime Minister Singh is willing to go ahead with the deal even if the Left allies in the coalition withdraw their support, the Bush administration -- which some perceived was a totally unrealistic statement, but which sources said was consequent to indications from New Delhi that there would be movement on the deal from its current moribund status -- vowed to work to complete the deal.
On tap to keynote the 26th annual Convention of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Originarguably the largest and most influential ethnic professional organization in the United Statesin Las Vegas next week, is Indian Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, who AAPI leaders say has confirmed he will attend despite rumors to the contrary because of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's austerity drive discouraging his ministers from foreign travel.
Bansal, 42, is a partner and head of the appellate litigation practice at the New York firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager & From; Srinivasan, 41, is a partner at the Washington, DC office of O-Melveny & Myers; and Mehta, is a partner, at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, also in Washington, DC.
Hari Sevugan, an Indian-American attorney, has been co-opted by the Barack Obama presidential campaign as a senior spokesperson to augment the already massive media operation of the campaign of the Democratic candidate. Sevugan has considerable experience in communication and policy work with statewide political campaigns.Sevugan had served as the Communications Director for presidential candidate Senator Chris Dodd, before the latter threw in the towel in January.
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