The ranking Republican on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Richard Lugar, has bemoaned the fact that more than three years after the historic US-India civilian nuclear deal was signed, it still remains in limbo sans any implementation.
A top American Senator has warned Pakistan that the US would have no other option but to resort to "self-help" if Islamabad does not become more cooperative in the war against terrorism.
The India-United States relationship has still not reached its full potential, though the two countries have developed steadily closer ties built on a uniquely strong foundation, according to powerful Senator Richard Lugar, a key supporter of the civil nuclear deal between the two sides. "The remarkable deepening of US-India ties over the past decade is only a start, as the relationship has still not reached its full potential," Lugar, ranking Republican.
Speaking at a hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee, Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said: "There are mixed signals here that are very, very troubling and that the United States needs to be able to have alternatives for carrying out its foreign policy in that region."
Top Republican lawmaker Ed Royce has been appointed the chairman of a key Congressional sub-committee on terrorism and non-proliferation, soon after which he made his agenda clear and expressed "grave" concerns over safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
The president said he had discussed with Prime Minister Modi on when the US would be able to send actual vaccines to India.
The US, he said, is working in the G-20 to help build consensus on long-term reforms that will provide the foundation for a more balanced, more stable global economy.
The United States administration on Wednesday sought to address public anger in Pakistan over an American official, who shot and killed two men, by saying that the department of justice will conduct a criminal investigation into the incident despite his diplomatic immunity.
US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has promised "accountability" and "transparency" in America's civilian aid to Pakistan, a fortnight after a top Senator had expressed serious concern that the funds might end up in bank accounts of corrupt politicians and officials of the country.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, known for fiery retorts against the US, welcomed Biden's first moves to join the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was trashed by Trump as a puppet of China over its conduct to deal with the COVID-19.
Christine Fair, an expert on Pakistan-based Jihadi groups, has predicted that even if there is an India-Pakistan rapprochement and a resolution of the Kashmir imbroglio, it will not result in Pakistan reining in these strategic assets that are invaluable to it to wage it proxy wars against India.
With Pakistan seeking more international aid following the devastating floods, the Obama Administration and key Congressional leaders are now considering allocating more money under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill that allocated US $ 7.5 billion to Islamabad.
Powerful United States senator John Kerry asked Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to present before India Pakistan's plan of action for fighting terrorism if it was "really serious" in resuming Indo-Pak dialogue, but the Premier expressed concern that the public would not support the idea.
Egged on by more than 160 venture capitalists, including several Indian Americans, US Senators John F Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat and Richard Lugar, Indiana Republican, have introduced a legislation to create jobs in America and increasing America's global competitiveness by helping immigrant entrepreneurs obtain visas to the United States.
Addressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, America's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke identified the Lashkar as the group, which planned and executed the 26/11 attacks.
India is centrally important for America's success in the Af-Pak region, according to Richard Holbrooke, special United States representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan. "I want to be sure that everyone here recognises how centrally important India will be to this (the US success in Afghanistan and Pakistan)," he told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan convened by the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The massive US civilian aid flowing into Pakistan would be squandered or stolen, a powerful American Senator has said, arguing that rampant corruption in that country would make effective aid distribution a challenge.
Munter, confirmed by the US Senate last week, would replace Anne Paterson in Islamabad.
'China's action towards India really gives you a good insight into how the Communist Party of China is thinking these days'
The US stepped up pressure on Pakistan to get access to disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, accused of proliferating nuke technologies to Iran and North Korea, for questioning.
Prior to his departure, the prime minister attended a Congressional reception hosted jointly by Foreign Relation Committees (House and Senate) and India Caucus (House and Senate).
Lisa Curtis, erstwhile Central Intelligence Agency South Asia analyst and ex-senior Congressional staffer on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has said that the arrest and findings from the investigation of Chicago-based Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative John Coleman Headley, has awakened US officials to the gravity of the threat of the LeT and other Pakistan-based terrorist groups.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday offered to enhance cooperation with India in the field of intelligence to avert attacks like the Pune blast that could 'further the agenda of terrorists' who were holding the bilateral ties 'hostage.'
Colorado-based Indian American businessman Vinai Thummalapally, who raised funds for President Barack Obama's presidential campaign, on Wednesday said he was proud to be nominated as the first Indian American to serve as United States' envoy to Belize.Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the confirmation hearing, Obama's nominee to the Central American state said he would work to strengthen US interests in Belize, if confirmed.
India, Pakistan and Afghanistan must cooperate with each other to reduce violence in the region, a powerful US Senator and President Barack Obama's key foreign policy aid said on Wednesday.
Dr Rajiv Shah, who has been nominated by President Barack Obama to head the US Agency for International Development -- the country's top non-military foreign assistance programme -- has told US lawmakers that "the mission of USAID is my passion," and that "it is with enthusiasm and humility" that he seeks confirmation to lead the agency first established by President John F Kennedy in 1961
The rise of BRIC countries represents a fundamental shift in global economy and the developing world needs a legitimate seat at the table so that shared challenges are better addressed, a powerful US Senator has said.
Software czar Bill Gates engaged in a large number of social projects in India, has told US lawmakers that the northern parts of the India face difficult challenges.
Ruling out sending American troops to Pakistan to assist the country's offensive against Taliban, Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee today said Islamabad would have to develop a "homegrown" policy to fight extremists.
Manisha Singh, an erstwhile senior staffer of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a former political appointee during the George Bush Administration, has landed a top job as the executive director of the Barer Institute based at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle.
Asserting that the Pune's German Bakery blast should not derail the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, one of the key aides of President Barack Obama, Senator John Kerry has said that Washington is ready to assist both countries, and that the long-pending Kashmir issue should not be a 'prerequisite' in the initial conversation.
The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan were among the various issues that came up for discussion as ranking United States Senator John Kerry on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. Kerry, Chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was on a day-long visit to India. Singh and Kerry took stock of the bilateral relations and prospects of taking these forward. In the regional context, the two discussed the situation in Afghan and Pak.
The New York Times report that Pakistan illegally modified the Harpoon anti-ship missile provided by the United States apparently to bolster its conventional weaponry against India, has embarrassed the Obama administration and Senators John F Kerry and Richard Lugarjust as Washington is poised to provide Islamabad with a massive economic and military largesse of $ 7.5 billion over five years
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."
There is no doubt that the Al Qaeda has expanded its network to newer areas like Yemen and Somalia, but Pakistan remains its nerve centre, a top American Senator said on Wednesday.
United States Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin arrived in India on Friday on a three-day visit, aimed at further boosting bilateral defence and security ties in the wake of China's growing military assertiveness in the region including the Indo-Pacific.
President Barack Obama has nominated Rahul 'Richard' Verma, currently a partner with the top-notch international law firm in Washington,DC -- Steptoe & Johnson LLP -- as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, and sources told Rediff India Abroad that considering that he has been a much respected Congressional staffer, his confirmation process before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the coming weeks would be a shoo-in.
Schumer and Menendez said the months-long demonstrations have been met with orders from the central government and local authorities to shut off internet access in protest areas, cut off water and electricity supplies for the tens of thousands living in protest camps, and impede the work of journalists reporting on the protests.
The President-elect also announced the nomination of former Secretary of State John Kerry as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, the first such official to sit on the national security council.
The nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan has figured during a Congressional hearing on the New START treaty between the United States and Russia.For the past two days, during hearings on the New START treaty held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lawmakers wanted to know from top US officials and experts about other nuclear weapon countries like India and Pakistan and how it can motivate the two countries to reduce their nuclear stockpile.