'When the United States and India make common cause there's really no challenge that we can't tackle, there's no mission that we can't overcome,' believes senior US official Nisha Desai Biswal
US Ambassador Robert D Blackwill said on Wednesday that Washington has appealed to India to participate in the reconstruction and stabilisation of Iraq.
Jim Mattis in his resignation letter to the US president wrote that he deserved a defence secretary whose views were better aligned with his on these and other subjects.
Haley said her India visit aimed at solidifying partnership.
General Mattis has been the most steadfast champion in Trump's cabinet of the US-India defence relationship. If Trump chooses a more pliable successor, the Pentagon's attention could go off India.
'The diplomat's arrest has led to a major diplomatic spat, the likes of which I have not seen in my nearly three decades of covering the US-India relationship, says Aziz Haniffa. 'The knee-jerk reaction by the powers-that-be in Delhi was myopic to say the least.'
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her American counterpart James Mattis reviewed ongoing initiatives to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.
'Modi skillfully navigated Trump's ego and pushed the right buttons.' 'Critics assailed Modi's speech for its personalism, but in the Trump era this is par for the course.'
To mark Prime Minister Modi's seventh meeting with Obama and his historic joint address to US Congress -- the sixth Indian PM to do so -- India Abroad, the newspaper published from New York and owned by rediff.com, reached out to diplomats and strategic thinkers in New Delhi and Washington, DC, to assess the current state of the US-India relationship and suggest a road map for the future.
'In his eulogy at Sandy's memorial service, President Clinton recounted the unusually hot US Independence Day, July 4, 1999, when most of official Washington was more interested in watching fireworks than international diplomacy. Sandy insisted that Clinton confront Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in no uncertain terms.' Former US Assistant Secretary Raymond E Vickery, Jr salutes Sandy Berger, Clinton's National Security Adviser, as a true friend of India.
The Indian ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, said it was a moving sight to see people turning up in large numbers at the heart of the US capital for the event.
Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal will travel to Bangalore and New Delhi from March 4 to 6
.jpg)
The United States said it "deeply regretted" that India felt it necessary to expel an American diplomat after senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade was asked to leave the country following her indictment in a visa fraud case.
Congressman Ami Bera, the only Indian-American lawmaker in the current Congress, has been invited by President Barack Obama to travel with him to India on Air Force One.
The US is working with India for developing three smart cities --Visakhapatnam, Ajmer and Allahabad
Friends of India in the US hope that New Delhi will receive a presidential waiver, given that Trump Administration has recognised India as a major defence partner and is in advance stage of selling billions of dollars' worth of equipment to India in the next few years.
The strategic alliance between China and Pakistan is primarily driven by their rivalry with India, eminent US experts have said, with one of them expressing concern over Sino-India border tensions.
America had postponed the much-awaited dialogue due to "unavoidable reasons" last month.
United States Ambassador to India Nancy Powell plans to meet Narendra Modi, signalling a shift in America's stand towards the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.
'While the Khobragade affair has "upset and diverted attention, it does not mean there is a fundamental flaw in the US-India relationship",' former American envoy Frank Wisner tells Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa.
Ami Bera is on cloud nine after being part of Obama's visit to India.
Pakistan-based terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Tayiba are likely to turn their attention to India with the drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan, a top Pentagon commander has told lawmakers.
'Every index of the US-India relationship is pointing north. The time has come for us to set much more ambitious goals for ourselves,' says India's new Ambassador to the United States Dr S Jaishankar.
National Security Advisor Susan Rice, influential business leaders and a host of other lawmakers, including Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera, would be travelling with President Barack Obama to attend India's Republic Day celebrations.
Indian-American Congressman Dr Amerish Bera feels that an apology will help India and the United States work through any misunderstandings. Aziz Haniffa reports from Washington, DC
Finding massive irregularity during "standard fraud checks", the White House has removed at least 85,000 signatures from an on-line petition which asked US President Barack Obama to cancel his planned meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi next month.
'... For the India-US relationship to continue its positive trajectory, it will require India to adapt to a different approach.' Nisha Desai Biswal -- who as the Obama administration's point person for South Asia was in the inner circle of all the Obama-Modi Summits -- tells Rediff.com's Monali Sarkar why she is hopeful that India and the US are on an irreversible forward course.
The United States has voiced hope that the ongoing crisis with India over the arrest of a senior Indian diplomat in December will come to a closure and expressed its wish to get back to business and take bilateral ties forward.
Trump will host Modi at the White House on Monday afternoon.
Members of his team and industry were right now in India, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter disclosed, 'looking at the potential co-production of fighter aircraft.'
Taxation and intellectual property rights issue are some basic starting point impediments for US businesses in India, a top Indian-American CEO said on Monday.
Says CISCO executive chairman John Chambers, who's 'met every leader in the world, and got to know them very well.'
US Senators want Obama administration to clarify what India's 12 agreements with Iran are all about.
Lawmakers were not going to be in town on that particular day, and would be in their constituencies preparing for the mid-term elections in November. Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports
"Every action we take will be designed to ensure our military is ready to fight today and in the future," Mattis said on Friday in a message to department of defense soon after he was being sworn in as head of the Pentagon by Vice President Mike Pence at the White House.
'Washington is telegraphing here is its willingness to support a low-grade, limited use of force meant to send a strong message to Pakistan.' 'Perhaps something along the lines of the surgical strikes in 2016, or perhaps something a bit more -- but not much more.'
Calling India an important partner of the United States, US Representative Ed Royce and George Holding in their letter to House Speaker John Boehner have said that the United States has no more an important partner in South Asia than India.
'If the US-Pakistan relationship continues to suffer, Pakistan may feel it has less to lose and decide that it need not keep a leash on LeT in order to appease America.' 'A tougher US policy toward Pakistan could lead to an emboldened and strengthened LeT and JeM, resulting in more terrorist attacks in India.'
Top American lawmakers and eminent Indian-Americans have hailed President Barack Obama's decision to nominate Richard Rahul Verma as his next envoy to India, noting that he would make an excellent ambassador.
The study draws attention to the contribution of the Indian industry
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances