'The capability of the Indian State to implement programmes and policies is weak -- and in many domains it is obviously not improving. In police, tax collection, education, health, power, water supply -- in nearly every routine service -- there is rampant absenteeism, indifference, incompetence, and corruption,' says Professor Lant Pritchett.
'The US-India relationship is in a different league altogether,' Obama administration officials tell Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
Professor Marvin Weinbaum, Scholar-in-Residence at the Middle East Institute, who has served in several US administrations as an expert on South Asia, particularly in the State Department's Policy Planning Bureau and Bureau of Intelligence and Research, told Congress on Thursday that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, responsible for the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, could surpass or replace Al Qaeda as the number one terror network worldwide.
Curtis, who was the lead panellist at a conference at The Brookings Institution titled, The US-India Nuclear Agreement: Expectations and Consequences,' said, "During the Bush Administration, US officials broke the habit of viewing India solely through the India-Pakistan lens. Washington developed a greater appreciation for the Indian democratic miracle and viewed our shared democratic principles as the bedrock for a broader strategic partnership."
'The United States should not, by this logic, expect India to create military distractions along the Line of Actual Control, hold up Chinese shipping in the Indian Ocean, or even openly provide intelligence or basing for US forces transiting the region.'
World Bank report on Thursday called for initiatives at the policy and institutional level to tap the economic potential it offers.
She met Jasmine Shah in New York when both were pursuing their Masters from Columbia and New York University respectively.
Al Qaeda, which has announced the creation of a separate wing for India, wants to portray Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an enemy of Islam and as such India should take its threat "very seriously", a well-known American counter-terror expert said on Friday even as the United States tried to downplay the terrorist outfit's capabilities.
'It is all Pakistan. They have not thought of bringing India into the biggest foreign policy crisis the US has had, which is Afghanistan and eventually Pakistan,' says South Asia expert Stephen P Cohen.
The highest water-use efficiency of more than $ 50 per cubic metre is in Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, Denmark, Finland, and Great Britain while the lowest is in Central and South Asia, including India, at less than $ 10 per cubic metre.
Bruce Riedel, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who is being talked about as likely to be tapped for a senior position in an Obama Administration that deals with South Asia, said while the LeT's continuing relationship with the Pakistani intelligence services, the ISI, is much debated and the Pakistani authorities deny any such relationship, "The fact is that the organisation has been tolerated in Pakistan despite the 2002 ban."
It was clear in Brunei at the 8th East Asia Summit that China doesn't want the South China Sea issue to even dominate the discussion, reports Sheela Bhatt, who is part of the prime minister's media contingent to the summit
While India is waiting to begin nuclear trade with the US, Pakistan may well have two nuclear reactors constructed on its own soil.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday said it has approved a loan of $125 million (around Rs 938 crore) for water supply and sanitation projects in Uttarakhand. The funds will be utilised to improve access to quality water supply and sanitation services in the Himalayan state, ADB said in a release. Under this project, 136 kilometres of water pipe system will be constructed to replace defective water networks in South Dehradun. This will ensure reliable and continuous water supply, benefitting an estimated 40,000 people, including 4,000 urban poor and vulnerable groups.
'No Cold War should be reignited and no Ukraine-style crisis should be repeated in Asia'
India's export basket for Pakistan has a limited portfolio as Pakistan has not given 'most favoured nation' status to New Delhi and such goods have ready market in South Asia and the Middle East.
Lending support for India's ambitious Nalanda University project, six countries on Thursday began the process of signing inter-government agreements to pledge their commitment for this academic institution.
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."
The 'terrible' surge of the coronavirus cases in India has severely impacted COVAX's vaccine supply in the second quarter of this year to the extent that there will be a shortfall of 190 million doses by the end of June, according to a joint statement by the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and CEPI.
The author of a definitive guide to the Kashmir crisis speaks with Managing Editor Aziz Haniffa.
Noam Chomsky talks on the Lankan war and Obama's takeover.
He also said that terrorists are constantly finding new ways to carry out violence, radicalise youth and raise financial resources and the darknet is being used by terrorists to spread radical content and conceal their identities.
Aveek Sen on how the Lashkar e Tayiba looks at the world while focusing on India and Afghanistan.
He is survived by two sons, Rajiv Bajaj and Sanjiv Bajaj, and a daughter Sunaina Kejriwal.
Wing Commander Ajey Lele says it does not matter how superior our technology is, but what we do with the intelligence gathered from it.
India must be prepared to deal with climate disasters, geopolitical confrontations, and social strife linked to global events, asserts Jayant Sinha, chairman of Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance.
While criticising Musharraf for not acting swiftly and ruthlessly to set Pakistan's politics on a proper course, Stephen Cohen of the Brookings Institution, a known South Asia expert, praised him for his position on Kashmir.
Outgoing United States Ambassador to India, David Mulford, believes that India can help stimulate the world economy in the wake of the global economic meltdown.Mulford observed that "Developing countries have tended to be recipients during times of difficulty, but this time, some of them may be stimulators and producers. That is an important thought to bear in mind when you are in the condition that the United States is today."
Bruce Riedel, a South Asia expert speaks about the situation in Pakistan.
'All hydropower projects in the Himalayan region must be stopped.' 'Joshimath is not alone.'
The United States should first and foremost support the restoration of democracy and an end to a military dictatorship
'This incident offers ammunition to those inside the US government and elsewhere who question the wisdom of trusting India, so it will have a lasting consequence no matter how it is managed.'
Check out the impressive line-up at the International Film Festival of South Asia.
The glaciers provide a lifeline for billions of people by feeding the major rivers in the region, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.
"The current border situation is overall stable," the Chinese diplomat said.
Qin, who is visiting New Delhi to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting on Thursday, is expected to meet Jaishankar on its sidelines though the foreign ministry here is tight-lipped about it.
Lekh is an international competition conducted by XLRI, Jamshedpur.
South Asian expert Professor Ma Jiali speaks on Sino-Indian relations and what Dr Singh visit to China means.
