The United States Administration believes that the involvement of India and neighbouring countries in the security component of the US-led war on terror in Afghanistan will complicate the situation, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert O Blake has said.
The United States on Friday said it wants India to work for encouraging democratic reforms in Myanmar and suggested that New Delhi has already begun playing an active role in the South East Asian country.
Notwithstanding concerns raised by the Pakistan government and its powerful military, the United States on Tuesday defended the $7.5 billion aid bill, saying there is nothing in the legislation, which impinges on the sovereignty of Pakistan.
The United States has said the Sri Lankan government must respect the rights of detained former army chief Sarath Fonseka as it underlined the need for 'greater transparency' in the court martial proceedings against the top general. "We haven't seen the specifics of the charges (of court martials), but we have consistently stressed that it is important that General Fonseka's rights be respected and that he be accorded a full due process," said Robert Blake.
The United States on Saturday said India's position on the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty will not impact the nuclear agreement between the two countries and expressed hope about moving forward with the landmark agreement."We've said before that the resolution that was passed on Thursday unanimously by the United Nations Security Council does not have any bearing on our bilateral civil nuclear cooperation," said an US official.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake was asked pointedly by rediff.com to respond to a growing perception that Pakistan was hedging on punishing the terrorists behind the Mumbai terror attack and the US was backing off from applying too much pressure on Islamabad because of its strategic interests. Blake said, "First of all, let me say these are really a very complicated set of issues that are for India and Pakistan to resolve."
It is very much in the interest of India and United States to continue to engage with Pakistan, even if Islamabad has not taken enough steps to meet the demands of New Delhi about punishing those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks, a Obama administration official has said. "It is very much in our interest and it is very much in the interest of India to continue to engage Pakistan," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said.
ACP (North) Anil Kohli breathed his last at the SPS Hospital, Ludhiana, Civil Surgeon Rajesh Bagga said. On Friday, the Punjab government had given its go-ahead to the hospital to conduct plasma therapy on the police officer.
The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Centre and West Bengal government to respond to a plea seeking directions to prevent the alleged exodus due to 'state-sponsored' violence after the assembly polls, constituting a Special Investigating Team to probe the issue and take action against culprits.
'As long as the prime minister's assurances are embodied in the 123 Agreement, we do not need to quarrel with an internal document of the United States.'
Choppers belonging to the Western Air Command carried out over 50 sorties over the last 48 hours, rescuing over 780 citizens in the flood-affected areas of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh, Indian Air Force officials said.
Virtually supporting India's precondition for any peace talks with Pakistan, a top United States diplomat on Thursday said Islamabad needs to do more to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, which claimed over 170 lives including six Americans. Robert Blake, now tipped to become the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department, told a powerful Congressional Committee that Pakistan needs to do more on 26/11.
In a volte-face, the United States has said no decision has been taken on providing India direct access to 26/11 accused David Headley.
The spokesperson said that Indian ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal had a meeting in the foreign office in which concerns were raised with regard to some offensive tweets by individuals in India denigrating the religious personality.
Despite a strategic engagement that has brought the two countries into closer convergence, the US does not always expect India to toe its line and recognises New Delhi's strategic autonomy, a top official has said.
Amid a chill in Indo-Pak ties, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher arrives in New Delhi on Thursday from Pakistan to discuss the situation arising out of the Mumbai terror attacks. Boucher will meet Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and the two sides will deliberate on how Pakistan-based perpetrators of the Mumbai strikes can be brought to justice.
The United States on Saturday said it will allow Indian investigators to interrogate David Headley, who has pleaded guilty to his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, but made it clear that he cannot be extradited to India.
In a huge relief, an appellate court in Qatar has commuted the death sentence of eight former Indian Navy personnel, arrested in an alleged case of espionage in August 2022.
The Obama administration has rationalised India's abstention on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 last month, calling for a no-fly zone in strife-torn Libya, as based on part misinformation and part going along with its Brazil, Russia, and China partners.
India is one of the key countries that will shape the 21st century, believes Robert D Blake, assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs in the Barack Obama administration.Keynoting a conference titled 'Natural allies? US-Indian Relations in the Obama Era', organised by the Washington-based think tank American Enterprise Institute on Monday, Blake stressed that India's importance to the United States has not diminished.
A girl, around 12 years of age, was found bleeding on a street in Ujjain city of Madhya Pradesh, and her medical examination confirmed that she had been raped, police said on Wednesday.
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan reiterated his allegations of a foreign conspiracy behind his ouster and said he knew that the 'match was fixed' when a no-confidence motion was moved against him.
During their visits to Islamabad, they will discuss with officials 'bilateral and regional issues' with particular focus on the Indo-Pak standoff.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday night chaired a meeting on the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat and asked authorities to extend all possible help to those affected by the tragedy, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks with United States President Barack Obama on "substantive" bilateral, regional and international issues including defence, security, trade and situation in West Asia in view of threat by Islamic State militants.
Veteran diplomat and author Phillips Talbot, a Padma Shri recipient who experienced first-hand the power of Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent movement and was one of the few Americans present during India's partition, has died in New York at the age of 95.Talbot's death on October 1 was announced by the Asia Society, where he served as the president between 1970 and 1981.He was United State's assistant secretary of state for near eastern and south Asian affairs.
She held preliminary talks with external affairs ministry officials and later met Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday hailed the party's performance in the Karnataka assembly polls as the victory of politics that unites the country.
"Universal adherence to the NPT itself -- including by India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea -- remains a fundamental objective of the US," Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary of State said in her opening remarks at the Third Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2010 NPT Review Conference being held at the UN headquarters in New York.
Amid the dispute between India and China over exploration in South China Sea, the United States on Tuesday said the laws of the seas should apply and issues should be addressed through dialogue.
Acknowledging that there are differences between India and the US on issues like Libya and Syria, a top Obama administration official has said the two countries need to "redouble" their efforts to work together to reduce any misunderstanding between them.
The US is 'putting every ounce of its energy' to eliminate the long visa wait time in India, including sending a cadre of consular officers to the country and opening up its other overseas embassies as far away as Germany and Thailand for Indian visa applicants, according to a senior US visa officer. India was one of the very few countries where applications for US visas saw a major upswing after coronavirus-related travel restrictions were lifted. There have been growing concerns in India over the long waiting period for first time visa applicants, especially for those applying under B1 (business) and B2 (tourist) categories.
The United States has once again made it clear that it would not interfere in issues concerning India and Pakistan, and that they should be resolved by the two countries themselves.
United States' Assistant Secretary Robert Blake on Wednesday marked the beginning of the US-India Cabinet-level Strategic Dialogue in Washington, DC, and discussed bilateral ties and issues like counter- terrorism, education, agriculture, trade and climate change. In his opening message, Blake said that US President Barack Obama feels that it's very much in American strategic interests to help advance the growth of India on the world stage.
The Manipur government dubbed as untrue the claim by the counsel for the committee appointed by the apex court to oversee relief and rehabilitation of the victims of ethnic violence that the people of the state were suffering on account of an economic blockade.
Bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice is an important task to finish for Pakistan, which also needs to look into the issue of Hafiz Saeed, accused by India of masterminding the terror strike, besides preventing cross-border infiltration, the United States has said.
'You'll see during the course of this visit, we'll have some important deliverables to announce in the area of energy and climate change,' US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O Blake on the prime minister's journey to Washington, DC next week.
The meeting was attended by the GJM, the GNLF, the Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha, the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (apolitical) and the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists.
'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.'
Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova has conveyed to her Indian interlocutors Kyiv's desire to build a stronger and closer relationship with New Delhi.
