Congressman Mike Honda of California, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and the chairman of the Congressional Asian and Pacific American Caucus, believes the ability of the Indian-American community to mobilize is an increasingly potent indication of its clout, and that it can translate into an effective weapon in the coming presidential elections.
A coalition of community organisations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area accorded a rousing farewell to the deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy, Ambassador Raminder Singh Jassal, who will now take charge as India's new ambassador to Turkey.
US President George W Bush on Thursday signed into law the legislation to implement the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal paving the way for the two countries to formally ink the 123 agreement on Friday.
Introduced by the tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal at the World Steel Association, the top administration official argued that the international system is changing and hence 'great,large countries' would have to be accommodated in that global framework.
Maintaining that he is not aware as to when exactly the US-India civilian nuclear agreement is going to be formally inked, the State Department's deputy spokesman Robert Wood said the important thing is that the deal has been finalised and what remains now are just administrative matters.
With President George W Bush set to sign on Wednesday the bill on Indo-US nuclear deal into law, the Indian-American community feels the focus now should be on using the current framework for the future development of bilateral ties, including creating opportunities for businesses, NGOs and government entities.
In a missive to Dr Singh dated September 23 on the day of the prime minister's arrival in New York, and made available to rediff.com, Obama said at the outset, "I am very pleased that your visit provides us with the opportunity to strengthen the US-India relationship."
The Berman Bill H R 7081, named after Howard Berman, a Democrat strongly opposed to the deal on non-proliferation grounds and who converted only a couple of days back, was adopted with 86 voting for and 13 against. The Senate also rejected the killer amendments introduced by Democratic Senators Byron Dorgan and Jeff Bingaman to ensure that the US nuclear exports to India do not help boost New Delhi's nuclear weapons programme
US Senate on Wednesday passed the $700 billion financial bailout package by a wide margin of 74-25 votes.
The message is said to have been conveyed to a small group of top Indian-American community leaders on Monday by senior White House officials, a source privy to the goings on told PTI. "We are confident that just like last time, the bill will be passed by a substantial majority. With that a new era will begin for India's nuclear programme," the officials were quoted by the source as saying.
The $700 billion, however, will not be given to the Treasury in one go to bail out the troubled financial institutions and the distribution of money will come about in three stages, the first of which will be in the magnitude of $250 billion followed by a tranche of $100 billion and finally of $350 billion.
The Berman Bill H R 7081, named after Howard Berman, a Democrat strongly opposed to the deal on non-proliferation grounds and who converted only a couple of days back, was adopted with 298 voting for and 117 against. One lawmaker merely voted present. In a house of 435 members, 416 were represent in which one did not vote. While 120 Democrats voted for the Bill, 107 Democrats voted against. Of the Republicans, 178 voted for and 10 voted against
An anonymous lawmaker in the Senate put a 'hold' on consideration of the Bill in the Senate, which must be lifted before the agreement is brought to its floor or approved by a Unanimous Consent Agreement. It, however, is not clear what provision of the Senate Bill is the lawmaker objecting to.
Berman's bill -- which is in all respects similar to the Senate Committee's Bill that the government of India has found objectionable and offensive -- contains the additional proviso that in the event of a nuclear test by India, which leads to the automatic termination of the deal, the presidential waiver of this termination could be limited.
The Senate version of the bill of approval of the Indo-United States nuclear agreement was introduced on Wednesday in the House of Representatives, giving boost to efforts to push the agreement hours before a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush in Washington.The bill was introduced by the Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in the United States, the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee under a revised schedule on Tuesday, formally put the US-India civilian nuclear agreement on its agenda and approved it by a margin of 19-2.
In a missive to Bush, USCIRF chair Felice D Gaer urged him to 'ask Prime Minister Singh to ensure the immediate security of Indian citizens -- security that is undermined by recurrent attacks on religious minorities and communities.'
With only five legislative days left before the US Congress is scheduled to adjourn, the Indo-US nuclear deal is literally down to the wires, with the first real opportunity to push the initiative to Senate floor expected to arise on Tuesday. The big question doing the rounds is whether the Bush Administration will be able to persuade the lawmakers to complete the process on time.
Taking note of the recent violence against the Christian community in India, the US has asked the Indian government to protect the religious freedom throughout the country. "We urge all parties to refrain from violence and urge government officials to protect religious freedom throughout India and thus preserve India's longstanding tradition of religious tolerance," said Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, John Hanford.
The United States on Friday said that one of the reasons for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington next week is to help push the bilateral civil nuclear agreement 'over the line' so that the agreement can be wrapped up."And one of the reasons Prime Minister Singh will come to the White House is to help push that over... the line, so that we can get it done," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said.
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