The massive $7.5 billion aid legislation to Pakistan, authored by United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John F Kerry and Republican Richard Lugar, would be approved without any difficulty in the coming weeks. The massive aid to Pakistan will be approved in spite of the serious doubts raised by some members of the committee, including a senior Democrat and a few Republicans, they said.
"China and India are the two most egregious violators (on infanticide)," Congressman Christopher Smith said during a Congressional hearing convened by the powerful House Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.
Russia says IOC decision to ban Russian athletes from Olympic parade unjust
There is no doubt that the Al Qaeda has expanded its network to newer areas like Yemen and Somalia, but Pakistan remains its nerve centre, a top American Senator said on Wednesday.
'We are at the moment working with India to encourage India to hold accountable, those responsible for this terrible crime'
Asserting that the Pune's German Bakery blast should not derail the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, one of the key aides of President Barack Obama, Senator John Kerry has said that Washington is ready to assist both countries, and that the long-pending Kashmir issue should not be a 'prerequisite' in the initial conversation.
United States Senator John F Kerry -- President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next Secretary of State -- has asserted that he would be strongly opposed to any cuts in America's considerable aid to Islamabad.
There is nothing to be worried about as bilateral ties are robust with solid foundations. Both are on the same page on the economic and defence/security ties bilaterally and globally and that shall continue irrespective of change in political dispensation in either country, points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
The United States embassy in New Delhi has informed US Senator Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is not eligible to receive a diplomatic visa. Aziz Haniffa reports.
Diplomatic observers and foreign policy wonks were left perplexed trying to figure out what Senator John F Kerry meant when he said India had begun "to reinvigorate its own programme there", which he described as "absurd on both sides".
The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan were among the various issues that came up for discussion as ranking United States Senator John Kerry on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. Kerry, Chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was on a day-long visit to India. Singh and Kerry took stock of the bilateral relations and prospects of taking these forward. In the regional context, the two discussed the situation in Afghan and Pak.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that India, along with countries like China and Turkey, is taking steps to reduce its dependency on Iranian oil.
US Senators Joseph R Biden, Jr (Delaware Democrat), who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Richard Lugar (Indiana Republican), the committee's ranking member, unveiled landmark legislation Tuesday designed "to promote an enhanced strategic partnership with the people of Pakistan."
Nancy Powell, being the quintessential diplomat, and attempting to be as circumspect as possible, replied, "Iran and India have a long tradition of trade across energy and other fields. It is one that is clearly a part of our sanctions regime, that we are hoping to see it significantly reduced."
The Kerry Lugar bill that would give a whooping US $ 7.5 billion non-military aid to Pakistan, which US President Barack Obama last week termed as a "down payment" and "investment" into America's future, would be introduced in the US Senate on Thursday.
India is "a powerhouse" in today's world and indispensable to "the conduct of global affairs", believes Senator John F Kerry, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee and erstwhile Democratic presidential nominee in 2004.
'Pakistan has received assurances that no dispensation in Afghanistan will be inimical to Pakistani interests and that Pakistan will have a say in the determination of the future of the region. India would definitely not be part of the new order if the US could help it.'
'If, God forbid, India decided it was in its interests to reach a more robust military agreement with Iran, that would be enough to ruin the [India-US] relationship.
The India-United States relationship has still not reached its full potential, though the two countries have developed steadily closer ties built on a uniquely strong foundation, according to powerful Senator Richard Lugar, a key supporter of the civil nuclear deal between the two sides. "The remarkable deepening of US-India ties over the past decade is only a start, as the relationship has still not reached its full potential," Lugar, ranking Republican.
Rice argued that the re-positioning of American diplomats from Europe to India was indeed making a difference to foreign policy.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-1 to clear the 61-year-old former first lady's nomination as the top diplomat of the country.
A statement by the foreign office in Islamabad said that Pakistan has always demonstrated its commitment to peace in the region but its desire for peace should not be misconstrued.
Terming the 2008 Mumbai attacks as a "crime against humanity", Ed Royce, the next chairman of the powerful House Foreign Relations Committee has said that there is a need to exhort pressure on Pakistan to bring to justice the culprits of the mayhem.
Speaking at a hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee, Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said: "There are mixed signals here that are very, very troubling and that the United States needs to be able to have alternatives for carrying out its foreign policy in that region."
The ranking Republican on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Richard Lugar, has bemoaned the fact that more than three years after the historic US-India civilian nuclear deal was signed, it still remains in limbo sans any implementation.
US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has promised "accountability" and "transparency" in America's civilian aid to Pakistan, a fortnight after a top Senator had expressed serious concern that the funds might end up in bank accounts of corrupt politicians and officials of the country.
The United States vowed to build "strong partnerships" with India and other democratic nations to meet global challenges, like terrorism and nuclear proliferation, according to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.\n\n
The US, he said, is working in the G-20 to help build consensus on long-term reforms that will provide the foundation for a more balanced, more stable global economy.
The United States administration on Wednesday sought to address public anger in Pakistan over an American official, who shot and killed two men, by saying that the department of justice will conduct a criminal investigation into the incident despite his diplomatic immunity.
'Ajit Doval said, "They are threatening us now".'
Egged on by more than 160 venture capitalists, including several Indian Americans, US Senators John F Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat and Richard Lugar, Indiana Republican, have introduced a legislation to create jobs in America and increasing America's global competitiveness by helping immigrant entrepreneurs obtain visas to the United States.
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.
India is centrally important for America's success in the Af-Pak region, according to Richard Holbrooke, special United States representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan. "I want to be sure that everyone here recognises how centrally important India will be to this (the US success in Afghanistan and Pakistan)," he told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan convened by the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"This means we need the Pakistani political system -- or as many parts of it as possible -- to buy into the goal of eliminating extremist influence in Pakistan."
With Pakistan seeking more international aid following the devastating floods, the Obama Administration and key Congressional leaders are now considering allocating more money under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill that allocated US $ 7.5 billion to Islamabad.
Addressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, America's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke identified the Lashkar as the group, which planned and executed the 26/11 attacks.
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