Amid a series of anti-US rhetorics coming from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the White House showed signs of "frustration" on Monday with regard to this war-torn country, where its forces have been engaged in war against terrorism for the past eight years.
"They (the Taliban) do not represent the popular will in Afghanistan and every poll, every survey I would particularly bring your attention to the BBC/ABC/ARD poll of earlier this year shows that their support is in the single digits," Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, told media persons at a news briefing.
US has said that it is yet to take a decision on Lashkar operative David Coleman Headley's extradition to India, said Robert Blake, the Obama Administration's point man for South Asia, especially India-Pakistan relations.
Ficci is also concerned that outsourcing, relaxation of export-controls on dual-use technology are other issues that can 'hinder' the burgeoning relationship.
As Washington tries to find its way out of Afghanistan, Pakistan has emerged as the central player dictating the terms of this emerging endgame in South Asia, notes Harsh Pant.
India is most open to dialogue on the Doha round and trade negotiations among all major emerging markets, a top Obama Administration official has told the US lawmakers.
Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley's plea bargain, under which he confessed to plotting the Mumbai terror attacks, throws light on close links between the Al Qaeda and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, according to former Central Intelligence Agency expert Bruce Riedel.Headley's story showed in clear contours the close relationship between Al Qaeda and the Pakistani militant group LeT, Riedel, who led the review of the Obama administration's Af-Pak strategy,said.
The extent to which the Barack Obama administration will go to humour Pakistan is highlighted by the fact that its envoy to United Kingdom drove four hours to Manchester to ensure that a zealous American airline security does not body-scan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi ahead of his arrival in Washington.When Qureshi's commercial flight to the US stopped in Manchester this week, American Ambassador in London Louis B Susman drove four hours to be there.
Internet search engine Google's decision to stop censoring search results on its sites in China has its own implication on that Communist nation, a top Obama administration official said
A helpless White House on Friday implored WikiLeaks, which is reportedly in possession of 15,000 more classified documents on the Afghanistan war, not to post any more of the records, saying US national security and life of its soldiers and Afghan nationals were at risk.
In a bid to rein in exorbitant executive compensation, the US government has appointed a pay czar who will oversee pay practices at seven companies including Citigroup, which have received "extraordinary" Federal assistance.
"How can you have a strategic dialogue without including the military," Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke told reporters at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
In the wake of India's assertion that the Inter State Intelligence was involved in the Mumbai attacks, the Obama Administration has said it was investigating the matter to find out whether Pakistan's spy agency played a role in the 26/11 terror strikes.
"There are elements in Pakistan that have not yet been the focus of the Pakistani counterinsurgency efforts," Gen Petraeus said in reply to a query raised by Senator Claire McCaskill, who expressed concern over the inability of Pakistan authorities in taking "substantial action" against the LeT.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao reviewed the progress of India-United States strategic dialogue with top Obama administration officials, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and briefed them on the recent Indo-Pak talks as well as New Delhi's view point on Afghanistan.
New Delhi identified the specific barriers which it said were coming in the way of high-technology trade at the day-long seventh meeting of the US-India high-technology cooperation group in Washington.
Facing a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, the Barack Obama administration seems to believe in a 'buyout' formula, which involves paying the militants to leave the outfit and reintegrate into mainstream society. President Barack Obama signed a $680 billion defence appropriations bill, which will pay for military operations in the 2010 fiscal year. The bill includes a Taliban reintegration provision under the Commander's Emergency Response Programme.
The United States has said that it will vote against an exemption for China to sell two civil nuclear reactors to Pakistan at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting, in a new move to step up pressure to get the controversial deal annulled. Making it clear that the US will oppose the recent decision of China to sell two nuclear reactors to Pakistan, a top Barack Obama administration official told lawmakers that Washington will vote against the China-Pakistan deal.
On her maiden visit to Pakistan after assuming office, Clinton said the Obama administration believes the most durable possible outcomes of any kind of resolution or normalisation can only come from the two countries themselves.
Amid concerns by certain quarters in Pakistan over the 'strings' attached to the United States aid, Washington on Friday asserted that no condition has been imposed on Pakistan for the $ 680 Defense Authorisation Bill and charged that an attempt is on to 'willfully distort' the facts.
Noting that Obama Administration is fundamentally committed to developmental premise of Doha Round, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk has said that advanced developing countries like China and India need to come in the same spirit as the United States for its success.
The Obama Administration has reiterated its strong commitment to the US-India civilian nuclear deal consummated during the tenure of the previous George W Bush Administration and said it's "embedded" in a broader strategic dialogue between Washington and New Delhi, but contended it's certainly not a template for negotiations with the likes of Iran.
Neera Tanden, one of the senior-most Indian Americans in the Obama administration, has quit the administration to rejoin her former liberal and progressive think tank in Washington, DC. She was a key adviser on health-care reform policy and worked with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Even as the Obama administration has started pushing for the ambitious goal of complete elimination of nuclear weapons, United States' Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said the US would maintain its nuclear deterrence.
The Obama Administration has rejected Pakistan's allegations that the developmental efforts by India in Afghanistan are a security threat to it, saying a stable and more prosperous Afghanistan will only contribute to regional stability.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved a legislation that would triple economic assistance to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year, authored by its chairman Congressman Howard Berman, California Democrat, despite being vehemently opposed by the pro-Pakistan lobby and the Obama Administration.
Burns is also likely to get New Delhi's feedback on the recent bomb attack outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, which claimed 17 lives and injured over 60.
A top official of the Barack Obama administration on Saturday said that Indian Muslims are not terrorists, though many of them are increasingly tired of being defined as such. "I talk about the bloggers that I meet in India who are tired of Muslims being defined as terrorists," Farah Pandith, the United States Special Representative to the Muslim Community, said. "They're getting out there and talking about what's happening in India," she said.
US President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law on Wednesday, the Kerry-Lugar bill for US $ 7.5 billion aid to Pakistan after two powerful Congressional committees issue an "explanatory statement" addressing concerns of its opponents, mainly the Pakistan Army.
In an apparent bid to strengthen ties both with India and Pakistan, and create new opportunities for the country's defence firms, the United States is considerably increasing arms sales to the two nuclear powered South Asian nations, a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said.
The Barack Obama administration has said the meeting of foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan, held in New Delhi on Thursday, is a 'courageous' step by the leaders of the two neighbouring countries. "We certainly commend the leadership of political courage and making sure that the meeting takes place. Now, the challenge is to build on this going forward," said Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley.
Senior diplomatic observers and administration sources have told rediff.com that in the weeks following the formation of the new Indian government, the Obama administration will press for India to resurrect the composite dialogue with Pakistan that lie comatose after the Mumbai terror attacks.
Service Employees International Union said in a letter to the Obama administration's 'pay czar' Kenneth Feinberg that Ken Lewis and other executives at banks supported by taxpayer money should be prevented from receiving any retirement or severance package until the banks commit to stop foreclosures.
The United States is considering a major overhaul of compensation practices in the country's financial services industry.
Influential American Senators have said they would oppose Obama administration's proposal to triple civilian aid to Pakistan and substantially increase assistance to its army without clear cut benchmarks and accountability provisions in it.
Vice President Mike Pence defended ban, saying that 'any fair-minded person' would understand the directive's intent.
Commending the political leadership of India and Pakistan, the Obama administration has said it is encouraged that the terrorist attack in Pune did not derail the resumption of peace talks between the two South Asian neighbours.
In the brief telephonic conversation, Obama condoled the loss of lives, the Prime Minister's Office said, adding, "The two leaders took the opportunity to review developments in Indo-US relations."
Experts believe that despite recent events, elements within the Pakistan army and the Inter Services Intelligence remain attached to the strategy of using the Afghan Taliban for strategic depth against India.One such is David Kilcullen, who has served as senior adviser for counterinsurgency to former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Commander of the Central Command General David Petraeus, and continues to be called on for advice by the US military brass.
The internal battle within the Obama administration seemed to have been won by Paul Volcker, the impressive and outspoken former Federal Reserve chairman who has long been a critic of financial innovation.
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