It is "too premature" to talk about the extradition of US national David Coleman Headley to India for his alleged role in Mumbai terror attacks, a top Obama Administration official has said.
Former Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Maleeha Lodhi has ridiculed the recent fears of the Obama administration and the US Congress that the Taliban when they gained control of the Swat Valley -- since recaptured by the Pakistani military -- would get a hold of the country's nuclear arsenal.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has met top US officials to discuss the Barack Obama Administration's review of the Afghan policy.
United States Vice President Joe Biden has said that the Obama administration is committed to end its combat mission in Iraq by August this year and remove all of its troops from the country as scheduled by the end of 2011.
Seeking to explain the absence of the terror activities directed against India, in the United State's new Af-Pak strategy, India has said the Barack Obama administration was 'looking at' terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad 'off-camera'.Welcoming the Af-Pak policy unveiled on Tuesday, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said the pressure maintained by the US on the Taliban and the Al Qaeda there is in the interest of India.
The Indo-Pak border situation has "improved" but suspicions continue to run deeper between the two countries, according to influential US Senator John Kerry, who is a key foreign policy aide to President Barack Obama.
Reaffirming that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to India will expand the areas of cooperation, a top Barack Obama administration official said Washington intends to deepen and strengthen the strategic partnership with New Delhi. "India is a global power. I think, as the Secretary reflected earlier this week and will certainly do so when she is in India, there is an opportunity to expand the areas of cooperation," he said.
United States President Barack Obama's decision to deploy more troops in Afghanistan indicates the deterioration of the war on terror as well as the escalating crisis in Pakistan, according to many military analysts and intelligence officials.They also fear that America's long-time ally might be on the verge of imploding due to its internal crises.Obama approved the order to deploy 17,000 troops in Afghanistan which beefs up the US troop strength by 50 per cent.
Pakistan, which was a "major source" of nuclear proliferation in the past, has been invited to the US-hosted Nuclear Security Summit, as America wants it to be part of the solution to the problem, a top Obama Administration official said on Saturday.
India has denied seeking any assistance from the United States on the Chinese border incursions in Ladakh, asserting that New Delhi is capable enough to take care of its own territorial integrity.
Seeking a resolution of the Kashmir issue for lasting peace, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said Pakistani people were disappointed that the United States Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke's mandate did not include India and hoped that the Obama administration would review the matter.
'We have also been very, very clear with the government that the purpose of fighting terrorism is to bring the benefits of a democratic government to the people,' US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said. The US feels the Sri Lankan government 'hasn't worked hard enough to bring that democratic government to the people of the area and frankly, to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.'
Implementing the commitment of United States President Barack Obama to deepen Indo-US strategic ties, the White House has carved out a separate India Desk at its National Security Council.
Kashmir-born Farah Pandith, who was recently appointed the United States' Special Representative to the Muslim world by the Obama administration, has said that she is overwhelmed with the response from India, over her new job. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had last week appointed Pandith for this first-of-its-kind position in the US government as part of President Barack Obama's effort to start a new beginning with the Muslim world and improve America's image.
The new administration in the United States means more continuity than change in Indo-US relations, says Teresita C Schaffer, director of South Asia Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
A group of 150 influential Indian American leaders met members of the new Obama administration and top Congressmen in Washington, DC on Thursday, demanding that pressure be built upon Pakistan to punish those responsible for carrying out the terrorist strikes in Mumbai on November 26 last year.
'Much as the Palestinian issue remains the core obstacle to peace in the Middle East, the question of Kashmir must be addressed in some meaningful way to bring stability to this region,' he said. He hoped the Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan will work towards a 'just and reasonable' solution to the issue.
US Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday said prosecutors would seek death penalty against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspects who are held at Guantanamo Bay but will be moved to a New York prison ahead of their trial. US Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday said prosecutors would seek death penalty against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspects who are held at Guantanamo Bay but will be moved to a New York prison ahead of their trial.
'Pakistan,' says former US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R Nicholas Burns, 'has an obligation to work with India and to give India the type of support needed to ensure that these types of attacks will not occur again. Therefore you cannot hide behind the definition of non-state actors. Every government has a responsibility to control the situation on its own territory. India needs the kind of reassurances from Islamabad that has not yet been forthcoming.'
The United States State Department has appointed a Kashmiri-origin woman as a special representative to Muslim communities as part of the Obama Administration's effort to reach out to the Muslims around the world.
Unites States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken to President Asif Ali Zardari to share with him the vision of President Barack Obama's administration and its policies towards the region and Pakistan.During a brief telephone conversation with Zardari on Thursday night, Clinton discussed the situation in the region and Pakistan-US relations.Zardari congratulated Clinton on assuming the post. He also welcomed Obama's desire to seek 'a new way forward' with Muslims.
A peace delegation from Pakistan on Thursday suggested the military regime in that country might not yet be over yet and singled it out for maintaining close ties with terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Attending a round table conference in New Delhi, the delegates referring to terrorism pointed out that the "monster that was created has outgrown its inventors".
On his visit to Egypt, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met Arab League chief Amr Musa and discussed the current political situation in the Middle East and South Asia, including Indo-Pak ties.
Besides addressing a high-level meeting of the US-India Business Council at Washington on June 17, Sharma will hold discussions with the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton. During his three-day engagements, the commerce and industry minister would meet US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and US trade representative Ronald Kirk.
The incoming Obama administration on Tuesday declared that the Mumbai terror attacks threw up new challenges for American diplomacy. US Secretary of State designate Hillary Clinton listed the 26/11 strikes as among the six major new challenges for American leadership though diplomacy that has emerged since the November presidential elections.
The incoming Barack Obama administration is likely to appoint veteran troubleshooter Richard C Holbrooke as a special envoy to Pakistan and India amid tensions in the sub-continent following the Mumbai terrorist strikes.
Ahead of a top State Department official's visit to New Delhi and Mumbai, the United States on Monday said India is very important for the Obama administration. "This region of the world is very important to us. India is very important to us, as the world's largest democracy. They just had elections," State Department official Ian Kelly told media persons at his daily press briefing.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will travel to the United States next week to hold discussions with top officials of the Obama Administration on a wide range of bi-lateral and regional issues.
The Obama administration wants India to be a 'full partner' in its nuclear non-proliferation efforts, as Washington has 'a lot of confidence in the Indians and in their approach,' United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.
Pakistan so far has rebuffed all US attempts to directly assist its forces in its war against terrorism despite best efforts by the Obama administration, a media report said on Monday. "Pakistan has accepted US money, weaponry and limited training, but has rebuffed further US efforts to assist its forces," The Washington Post said in a report.
United States President Barack Obama is sending a team of officials led by Richard Holbrooke, his special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, to visit refugee camps housing lakhs of people who have been displaced by the military offensive in Swat and adjoining areas of the North Western Frontier Province. Holbrooke is expected to have a first hand assessment of the situation and then recommend how best the US can accelerate relief measures.
In a clear indication that it is against the appointment of an American special envoy for the sub-continent, India said on Tuesday that there was a bilateral mechanism to improve Indo-Pakistan ties and third party intervention would not make any difference.Asked about US media reports that the incoming Obama administration may appoint former President Bill Clinton or some other person as special envoy, Pranab Mukherjee said that such news reports were speculative.
The United States has begun to squeeze the funding and flow of money to terrorist organisations in the Af-Pak region including the Taliban, Al Qaeda, the Haqqani network and Laskhar-e-Tayiba, and keeping a tab on 'hawala' transactions, a top Obama administration official has said.
Officials of the US State Department have been briefing the media about the kind of honours that will be accorded to Dr Singh when he visits Washington. These are meant to show that there has been no change in US policies towards India under the Obama administration. The reality is that on every matter, which is of concern to India, greater attention is being paid to China's sensitivities and concerns.
Noting that it would be difficult to win the war in Afghanistan without destroying "safe haven" of Taliban militants inside neighbouring Pakistan, the United States said on Monday that it would now focus on how to tackle the situation. "Obviously, this was an area that's just along the border. If there isn't a safe haven in Pakistan, it's harder for any attacks to come. And I think that's certainly part of the focus," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Accusing Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse of abdicating his responsibility to save civilians in the restive north, Tamil Americans have asked United States President Barack Obama to send his forces to the strife-torn nation to save the lives of innocent people. "This is pure and simple genocide. We are asking the Obama administration to intervene to save the Tamils of Sri Lanka by sending its army there," they said.
But at the same time before leaving for Presidential Day recess, the Senate has not cleared the names of at least a dozen Obama nominees. Obama warned that if the Senate does not approve/confirm his nominees, who are critical to run his administration, he reserves the right to use his recess appointment authority in the future.
"What I am going to restate is a basic principle. Number one, if a country is attacked, it has the right to defend itself. I think that is universally acknowledged," Obama asserted. "The second thing is that we need a strategic partnership with all the parts in the region -- Pakistan and India and the Afghanistan government -- to stamp out militant, violent, terrorist extremists."
Obama Administration's top diplomat for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, who has already visited New Delhi twice to brief Indian leaders of President Obama's AfPak strategy, on Tuesday said that due to elections India had not gotten fully engaged in the regional approach that is an integral part of the US strategy.
The Barack Obama administration has asserted its commitment towards implementing the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement, a landmark foreign policy achievement by the previous George W Bush government. The US Department of Energy on Thursday issued a statement, following the conclusion of a three-day meeting of the 'US-India Civil Nuclear Energy Working Group'.
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