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In the first official visit by a United States vice-president to India in three decades, Joe Biden arrived in India on Monday on a four-day tour aimed at boosting ties in key areas of trade, energy, defence and security. The US vice-president will hold meetings with top Indian leadership, including President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday before flying out to Mumbai in the night.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington, DC, on Wednesday on an official visit to the United States during which he will hold the first face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris, attend the maiden in-person Quad summit and address the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
'No one in this administration, not the President nor anyone on the national security team, would suggest that the Taliban are respected and valued members of the global community'
Last year Dr Fauci had largely dismissed the theory that the deadly COVID-19 virus, due to which over 165 million people have been infected worldwide and over 3.5 million peope died so far, was genetically engineered and had leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki warned of the potential use of chemical weapons in Ukraine after Moscow alleged the United States was housing biological weapons in Ukrainian territory.
The United States has said that Taliban is not an enemy of America, a move seen as the latest effort of the Obama administration to send an olive branch to the terrorist outfit that ruled Afghanistan before 9/11.
They also slammed the "violent rhetoric" against India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu and said free speech does not mean a license to incite violence or vandalise property.
The Biden administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on combating dreaded terrorist groups such as the ISIS-K and Al Qaeda following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a set of leaked documents and diplomatic cables to a prominent US media outlet.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui asked Prime Minister Modi about the rights of minorities in India and what steps his government was willing to take to improve them and also uphold free speech.
The former Los Angeles mayor's nomination was pending before the US Congress since July 2021 when he was nominated for the prestigious diplomatic posting by Biden.
Calling the 'events' along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) very disturbing, the external affairs minister said they have raised some very 'basic concerns'. When asked whether it will be a long-haul or a breakthrough is expected soon, Jaishankar said: "I would not go into prediction zone at all whether it is going to be easy or not, and what will be the timelines and so on."
'I certainly think India can play a leading role in helping us resolve the Russia-Ukraine crisis. India obviously has an old relationship with Russia'
On Friday, Putin formally announced the annexation of four regions -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia -- and claimed that "this is the will of millions of people".
Describing the surge of COVID-19 infections and deaths in India as 'nothing short of heartbreaking', Vice President Kamala Harris said on Friday that India's welfare is critically important to the US.
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.
Russia and China are tight-fisted and Iran is broke and none of them has the political will or capacity to bankroll the Afghan economy, which only the US can, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The United States is closely monitoring the situation along the India-China border, a senior official said on Tuesday and expressed concerns over Beijing's pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbours.
Federal Bureau of Investigation director Christopher Wray on Thursday expressed concern that foreign terrorist organisations (FTOs), such as the Islamic State and Al Qaeda, may either launch or inspire large-scale attacks against the United States.
Hitting hard on the three and half years of the Trump administration during her first appearance after being picked as the vice presidential nominee of the Democratic party on Tuesday, Harris, 55, presented a long list of missteps taken by the current United States government.
The only thing that may salvage Narendra Modi's trip to the US is his meetings with CEOs, such as those of Blackstone, First Solar, Qualcomm, Adobe, and General Atomics, asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
Fauci, 81, has been the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director since 1984, and the chief medical adviser to the US President Joe Biden.
While inaugurating the leadership summit of the US-India Business Council in Washington, DC, US Vice President Joe Biden said that there was no reason why the two largest democracies in the world should not continue to have a more productive relationship. Aziz Haniffa/ Rediff.com reports.
The letter was the latest sign of US frustration about the business environment in India.
'The West has always opposed a strong nationalist leader in India and Narendra Modi is no exception.' 'The West prefers weak leaders who are amenable to Western pressure and Mr Modi's independent stance is not to the liking of the West,' asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Describing the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to America as a "watershed moment" in bilateral ties, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has said that this week will be one of those moments that can change the course of history as the two democracies get together for peace and prosperity.
Joe Biden will embark on his maiden visit to India as United States Vice President on July 22 to discuss key bilateral issues, including trade, energy and defence, to make Indo-US ties the most important strategic partnership of the 21st century.
"As far as the US is concerned, we have certainly reached a level of no return. In other words, we have developed today what we call a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. "We are cooperating across the board on areas that are of mutual interest to both our countries," said Shringla.
While the US omitted China and Russia from the list of invitees, Beijing was furious over the invitation to the self-governing island Taiwan, which China said is a blatant violation of the 'One China' policy that considers Taipei as the integral part of the Chinese mainland.
'For the first time since I've been following Indian politics, one heard voters talking about India's role on the world stage and the fact that, due to Modi's leadership, India was once again a great power.'
Kim did not rule out diplomacy with the Biden administration despite that Pyongyang called Biden a 'rabid dog' after Biden labelled Kim a 'thug'.
China had made the request but declined to provide details.
Kim Jong-un declared he would never surrender North Korea's nuclear weapons weapons even if his country faced 100 years of sanctions. Dr Rajaram Panda explains Pyongyang's new nuclear doctrine that makes the world a much more dangerous place.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has met top Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman, and held substantive discussions with them on the strategic bilateral ties and regional and global issues like the current situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized Kabul.
The Biden administration expects the Modi government to continue to remain as its loyal camp follower even as Washington continues to act in self-interests, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Sullivan and Jaishankar welcomed the cooperation in recent weeks that resulted in deliveries of over USD 500 million in COVID-19 relief supplies from the US federal and state governments, US companies and private citizens across America for the people of India'
China firmly opposes all forms of contacts between foreign officials and the Dalai Lama, he said.
'And if the United States, at that time, perceives India to have welched on the deal, not been our friend, when we did so much to make it a friend, that's trouble.'
"The embassy remains open and we plan to continue our diplomatic work in Afghanistan. The United States will continue to support consular services, and that includes the processing and operations of the Special Immigrant Visa Program, and we'll continue to engage in diplomacy with the Afghan government and the Afghan people. Additionally, we will continue our focus on counterterrorism," he said.
Observing that 140 United Nations member states have already voted to condemn Russia over its unprovoked war and the humanitarian crisis it has unleashed upon the people of Ukraine, Thomas-Greenfield said Russia should not have a position of authority in that body, nor should the international community allow Russia to use their role on the Council as a tool of propaganda to suggest they have a legitimate concern about human rights.
Ajay Banga was on Wednesday appointed the next president of the World Bank, becoming the first-ever Indian-American to head the global financial institution which said it looks forward to working with him at a time when it's tackling the toughest development challenges facing developing countries. "The executive directors of the World Bank today selected Ajay Banga as president of the World Bank for a five-year term beginning June 2, 2023," the bank said in a press statement. In February, President Joe Biden announced that the US would be nominating Banga, 63, to lead the World Bank because he is "well equipped" to lead the global institution at "this critical moment in history."
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