The United States is looking forward to welcoming the new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, but refrained from making any announcement on the possible trip in September.
Nisha Desai Biswal, the Obama administration's point person for South and Central Asia, will travel to India next week to hold talks with officials of the new government on a series of bilateral and regional issues.
The historic Indo-United States civilian nuclear agreement is on the right track, even as New Delhi has to complete a few formalities in this regard, said a top US diplomat. "It (nuke deal) is going very well, Senator. There are still a couple of steps that the Indians have to take to fully implement that agreement," Ambassador Robert Blake, the Obama nominee for the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, said.
The Indian elections in no way precluded the United States from working jointly with India to try to alleviate the lot of the affected Tamil civilians caught up in the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan troops, the outgoing point man on South Asia for the Obama Administration has said.
Inderfurth, currently professor of international relations at George Washington University and, according to insiders, either the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in the next administration or the next United States ambassador to India, says too much is being read into Obama's recent remarks on Kashmir.
Foreign Service Officer Robert Orris Blake, Jr, who is currently the United States' Ambassador to Sri Lanka, before which he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in New Delhi from 2003 to 2006, is the top contender for the post of the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, currently held by diplomat Richard Boucher.
"The question of India-Pakistan relations is one that... they have actually made great strides forward in the last couple of years. And obviously, the tensions created by the Mumbai incident made that more difficult right now,"Richard Boucher, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, has said those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks have links in Pakistan. "I would say it's clear that they had links in Pakistan, that the attackers had links that lead to Pakistani soil" Boucher said in Islamabad on Monday, according to transcripts released by State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
Karl 'Rick' Inderfurth, foreign policy advisor on South Asia for United States President-elect Barack Obama's campaign, who is expected to play an influential role in the Obama administration's policy on the subcontinent, says, "It was said immediately after the 9/11 attack that 'we are all Americans'. Now, in the wake of the Mumbai tragedy, it is right for all of us to say 'we are all Indians.'
Terming reconciliation with Taliban as "necessary", a senior state department official has said that there is nothing "evil" about engaging militants in the political process if they abandon violence. "I think it's necessary, but I wouldn't necessarily call it that evil," US assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia, Richard Boucher said.
The Bush administration apparently has no problem with the new Pakistani government's peace deal with militant groups in that country's North West Frontier Province, including Waziristan that have been sympathetic and allied with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It has even given the tentative agreement its cautious blessings.
A top Obama administration official on Thursday said that though some progress is being made in the implementation of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, it is going to be a long and tough road to work through the issues related to India's nuclear liability law.
The US has emphasised that Pakistan has still "lot to do" in combating the menace of terrorism and the immediate focus should be on groups responsible for the ghastly Mumbai terror attacks.
"I think the steps that we've seen Pakistan take are good steps. They're promising steps. We hope they get followed up," Assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said in Beijing last week, according to a transcript released today by the State Department.
'I am hopeful that you will see more focused attention on this relationship,' former US assistant secretary of state Nisha Desai Biswal tells Alokananda Chakraborty.
While ruling out the possibility of a military takeover, observers warned that the "military may move in if there is a major public disorder in the country".
Thirty-two young leaders from India and Pakistan who have just completed a three-week conflict resolution programme in Maine under the auspices of The Seeds of Peace programme, were felicitated at the State Department by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher, who hailed them as the leaders of tomorrow and the catalysts of peace in a region beset by conflict for far too long.
There may be some changes in the text of the nuclear commerce waiver for India, which is being considered by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, according to United States Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher. Boucher asserted that the US would "not allow anything to impede the N-deal."
'In a complex conflict like Kashmir, you can't just ignore the militants when you talk of a permanent solution.'
There are a lot of things that go on up there that are difficult to find out. On the other hand, we do have a pretty good idea what's going on up there, whose up there and what they're doing, Boucher said.
Kathleen Stephens, a career foreign service officer who has never served in India but was United States Ambassador to South Korea from 2008 to 2011, will only be a stop-gap charge at Roosevelt House in New Delhi, till President Obama names a new envoy to India.
"Some of the fears are exaggerated," and added, "some of the training turns out to be sort of cadet level. Some exchanges don't lead to a lot. I think we just need to have a realistic sense of what this is," Boucher added.
Applauding India as a "responsible steward" of atomic power, the US has said it looked forward to "trying to complete" the civilian nuclear deal this year so as to bring New Delhi to the "mainstream".
"These funds have been used to help Pakistan prosecute the war on terror along the Pakistan-Afghan border," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher said.
With United States President Barack Obama firmly backing New Delhi's candidature for membership of the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group, US Ambassador to India Richard Verma on Wednesday said the former is very supportive of India's accession in all the four export control regimes, including the NSG, and is going to work hard to achieve the target.
What will a BJP government in New Delhi mean for Washington? Four senior US officials who served in the Clinton administration during the NDA government, offer their perspective, says Aziz Haniffa.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday laid a wreath at the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers and paid homage to Indian-American astronaut late Kalpana Chawla at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.
Boucher, who is the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, was asked by rediff.com not to dodge the question but to clearly articulate which one was binding on Indiathe Hyde Act or the 123 agreement. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had recently assured the Congress that for the nuclear deal to be consummated, it has to be consistent with the Hyde Act.
Pakistan says it will go with the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline despite skepticism over the project from the United States.
Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal will travel to Bangalore and New Delhi from March 4 to 6
Appearing before a Congressional hearing, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher was asked if Khan had been questioned by US intelligence officials.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher announced the assistance after holding talks with Musharraf.
'It is not possible that Kashmir will go totally to one country.' 'I don't see borders being changed anytime even in the distant future.'
Just hours after the White House confirmed that United States President Barack Obama would be travelling to India in January, the State Department on Friday announced that it will send a top diplomat to India next week to lay the ground work for the historic presidential visit.
The US and India likely to sign a high quality bilateral investment treaty to create an enabling business environment.
In the face of the Left opposition, the Bush administration has refused to set a timeline for moving the Indo-US nuclear deal forward, saying it will start work towards operationalising the agreement when New Delhi is ready.
A top US official said Pakistan has to "exercise effective control over all its territory" so that it is not used by terrorists.
India House raised $1,00,000 as part of an initiative supported by the Consul General of India in Houston Dr Anupam Ray to help Grillot buy a house in his hometown.
We need to report to the Congress about the India-Iran ties. India does not have to worry about this, says US official.
Over 90 Indian-American community leaders and political activists, who were catalytic in pushing through the passage of the legislation, took part in the ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
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