United States President-elect Barack Obama, in a statement condoling the deaths of two American citizens in the Mumbai terror attack, declared that these terrorists 'will not defeat India's great democracy'.Obama asserted that "these terrorists who targeted innocent civilians will not defeat India's great democracy nor shake the will of a global coalition to defeat them." "Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been touched by this terrible tragedy," he said.
United States President George W Bush, who continues to be briefed on the terror attack in Mumbai by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as he spends the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at the presidential retreat in Camp David, has condoled the deaths of two Americans in the attack."Laura and I are deeply saddened that at least two Americans were killed and others injured in Wednesday's horrific attacks in Mumbai," said a statement by the President.
The spectacular terrorist attacks in Mumbai that caught everyone by surprise by the level of coordination and implementation highlights that the Indian security forces lack the depth of intelligence needed to counter such sophistication, a specialist in counter-terrorism and homeland security with Jane's Strategic Advisory Services in London, has said
Walter Andersen, associate director of the South Asia Program at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, told rediff.com, "I am surprised that after several terrorist incidents, the government hasn't moved faster to get something much more effectively in place. You have a totally incompetent home minister, and why he isn't removed is beyond me."
United States President-elect Barack Obama called up Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice again on the morning of Thanksgiving Day, to get the latest update on the Mumbai terror attacks.A spokesman for the President-elect said, "This morning, President-elect Obama spoke with Secretary Rice by phone to get an update on the situation in Mumbai."The President-elect also called Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen to condole the loss of innocent lives and to convey his deepest sympathies.
Professor Deepa Ollapally said, "The way in which this was carried out, it does suggest that they needed some fairly sophisticated, coordinated planning. And, if the reports are true about their rounding up Americans and British, then it sounds like there is an Al Qaeda hand possibly, which again would be the most obvious difference between every other terrorist attack that has gone on before (in India)."
He then immediately called Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen to offer his condolences at the loss of innocent lives at the hands of this wanton violence perpetrated by the terrorists.
On the president's directive, officials have also kept President-elect Barack Obama's national security team posted with all the latest information to make sure "they are in the loop."
US President-elect Barack Obama today promised to do whatever possible to revive stalled economic growth in the short run and insisted that there is no question of being in any danger of an environment of "over-reach".
In its first intervention in Asia since the beginning of the current financial crisis, the IMF has approved a $7.6 billion rescue fund for Pakistan that will support the country's economic stabilisation programme.
Although countries like India and Brazil were not part of the just concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, there is a commitment from leaders of the two nations to see the Doha Round modalities done by the end of this year, Dan Price, assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs, said in a briefing en route to Andrews Air Force Base at the conclusion of the APEC meeting in Peru.
India's Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs Vayalar Ravi, keynoting the 15th biannual convention of the National Federation of Indian Associations, said the election of Senator Barack Obama as the new President of the United States had rewritten not just the history of America, but the history of the world.
Inderfurth, currently professor of international relations at George Washington University and, according to insiders, either the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in the next administration or the next United States ambassador to India, says too much is being read into Obama's recent remarks on Kashmir.
The US position is that cooperation on the construction of two new reactors, Chasma III and IV, would be inconsistent with the commitments China made at the time of its adherence to Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines in 2004.
Concerned over reports of United States President-elect Barack Obama's transition team member Sonal Shah's links with right-wing Hindu groups, some Indian-Americans have expressed fear that it might possibly influence the US policies towards India
President-elect Barack Obama's Transition Team has announced leaders for a series of Policy Working Groups for the Presidential Transition, which includes Indian-American Sonal Shah of Google, who will craft the incoming administration's high tech policy priorities.Shah heads Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org's global development efforts, and has a lengthy resume on international development issues.
Yet another young Indian American Democratic Party activist has been named for United States President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.Parag Mehta, 31, has been named the deputy director of inter-governmental affairs and public liaison of the Obama-Biden transition team, charged with outreach to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other minority groups.His appointment follows close on the heels of the appointments of two Indian Americans.
Favouring a 'new Bretton Woods Agreement', International Monetary Fund chief Dominque Strauss-Kahn has said an early warning system to detect impending dangers to the world economy must be put together by international financial expertise.
Sonal Shah, currently director for Global Development at google.org in promoting the firm's philanthropy will serve on President-elect Barack Obama's official 15-member transition board to be announced on Wednesday. Preeta Bansal, partner at the international law firm of Skadden Arps and a senior adviser on the Obama campaign is also expected to play a significant role.
"In order for McCain to win, he's got a very steep hill to climb. He's got to win all of the toss-up states, 64 electoral votes. Then he needs to strip away Ohio and Indiana with 31 electoral votes to get him to 252. And then he needs to either win Colorado and Virginia, which gets him to 274, or win one of them plus Pennsylvania, which would get him to 282 or 286. It's a steep uphill climb," said Karl Rove, the 'architect' of President Bush's electoral wins in 2000 and 2004.
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