In its annual report of the human rights situation worldwide, the United States has observed that while the Indian government respected the rights of its citizens, major problems like 'extrajudicial killings of persons in custody, disappearances, and torture and rape by police and other security forces remained'.The State Department report acknowledged that 'investigations into individual abuses and legal punishment for perpetrators occurred.'
In an interaction with journalists at the Foreign Press Center inWashington, Lewis, who marched with King in Selma, Alabama in the '60s said, "As I said there in India as we traveled, if it hadn't been for Gandhi, hadn't been for Martin Luther King Jr, there would be no Barack Obama."
The safe haven provided to al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the alliances among the extremist groups in Pakistan, is not just a threat to the stability of the Pakistani government, but also a threat to stability in Afghanistan, and a much broader threat to the region and America, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
United States President Barack Obama's decision to deploy more troops in Afghanistan indicates the deterioration of the war on terror as well as the escalating crisis in Pakistan, according to many military analysts and intelligence officials.They also fear that America's long-time ally might be on the verge of imploding due to its internal crises.Obama approved the order to deploy 17,000 troops in Afghanistan which beefs up the US troop strength by 50 per cent.
Retired Admiral Dennis Blair, the Obama Administration's Director of National Intelligence, in his first appearance before the US Congress, told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that "on the global state, Indian leaders will continue to follow an independent course characterized by economic and political pragmatism."
The plunging global economy is an even bigger threat to the United States' national security than the al Qaeda terrorist network or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, according to America's new intelligence czar.Traditionally, US intelligence chiefs always preface their opening remarks with either terrorist or nuclear proliferation threats, but DenisBlair's first sentences in his testimony before the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was about the economy.
United States President Barack Obama has appointed Bruce Riedel, a veteran Central Investigative Agency analyst for nearly three decades, to chair an inter-agency policy review of US policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan.Obama's press spokesman Robert Gibbs said that this policy review chaired by Riedel would have to be completed before the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in April.
Indian-American Republicans hailed former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele's election as the first African-American national chairman of the Republican Party and predicted that he would reverse the GOP's hard right drift and move it back to the centre.
Bruce Fein, a former US deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan Administration, has filed a 12-count indictment against Sri Lanka's defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the country's army commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, for perpetrating genocide against Tamil civilians with US Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice.
Current and former Indian-American cabinet officials in Virginia Governor Tim Kaine's administration hailed his appointment as chairman of the Democratic Party, and said it augurs well for greater political engagement by Indian-American Democrats at the senior levels of the Democratic National Committee.
Mumbai-born Eboo Patel, 33, the only Indian American thus far appointed by President Barack Obama to the 25-member Advisory Council, has said that he was honoured and blessed, and ready to get to work and operationalize President Obama's commitment to inter-faith cooperation.
An influential American Senator has said that in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, the most important bond between the United States and India is their 'unity in the face of extremism'.Republican Senator George V Voinovich, a ranking member of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also lauded India's restraint vis--vis taking action against Pakistan.But he cautioned that this should not mean that Pakistan has been 'given a free pass'.
America's special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, will travel to the two countries and to India later this week as part of an orientation trip.
'We have also been very, very clear with the government that the purpose of fighting terrorism is to bring the benefits of a democratic government to the people,' US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said. The US feels the Sri Lankan government 'hasn't worked hard enough to bring that democratic government to the people of the area and frankly, to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.'
United States President Barack Obama has appointed yet another top Indian American legal mind to a senior position in his administration. Rashad Hussain, 30, who recently served as a trial attorney at the US Department of Justice, was named by Obama as Deputy Associate Counsel to the President.Before his stint with the DOJ, Hussain was working as a law clerk to Damon K Keith on the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Detroit, Michigan.
The Hindu American Foundation, still cannot contain its elation over President Barack Obama's inclusion of Hindus in his inaugural address--a first by a US president.
The chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, US Congressman Howard Berman, has said that he is closely reviewing all American assistance being provided to Pakistan and that "to the extent we are going to provide security assistance, it should be focused on counter-terrorism, not rekindling an arms race in South Asia."
Gregory Meeks, speaking to nearly 150 Indian Americans who had come to Capitol Hill as part of a Task Force to express outrage over the Mumbai terror attacks, couldn't contain his euphoria over the swearing in of Barack Obama as the nation's first African American President and the indirect connection to Mahatma Gandhi
Wisely skirting a prospective foreign policy pitfall, US President Barack Obama appointed a special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, shelving the controversial idea of appointing an envoy for South Asia.
Ending his eight-year presidency marked by two wars, 9/11 attacks and recession, George W Bush has said he has no regrets and history will be the judge of his decisions which he said were based on a set of clear principles. "I'm coming home with my head held high and a sense of accomplishment," Bush said hours after vacating the White House.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances