If Pakistan continues to dilly-dally in bringing the perpetrators to justice and closing down the terrorist camps that operate within its borders, influential US lawmaker Ed Royce says he will lead the fight in the United States Congress to cut the massive military and security assistance to Pakistan.
Robert Hathaway, currently director of the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC, said, "The US calls for patience are not likely to satisfy New Delhi, and when Secretary Rice arrives in India she is likely to face sharp questioning about Washington's continued support for Pakistan."
Since the new policy was instituted August 4, more than 50 such incidents have been reported across the country.
"Stronger economic, scientific, diplomatic, and military cooperation between the US and India is in the national interest of both countries and reflects our increasingly close relationship with this important democratic ally," Ranking member on the House of Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded an immediate session of Parliament to move breach of privilege motion against the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for "misleading" the two Houses on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
While denying, along with the non-proliferation lobby in the United States, that it conspired to deliberately release this correspondence on the eve of the NSG meeting to scuttle the US-India deal as administration and diplomatic sources had contended, Berman's office and Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, which has been in the forefront of opposing the agreement, said the fault lay with the Bush administration and the Manmohan Singh government
Terrorist groups operating from Pakistani soil have played a "very serious role" not just in attacks in India but also in Pakistan, a senior British lawmaker said on Monday.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan is not going anywhere. That being the case, why is the hesitation to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban? asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
United States Congressman Jim McDermott has introduced major new legislation to, in his words, "unite the two great democracies of India and the United States together in development of new and renewable energy supplies". The legislation seeks to establish a Congressional Commission on Renewable Power Technology Commerce with India to study methods for improving and promoting bilateral renewable energy cooperation with India.
Puneet Talwar, one of the most respected Middle East policy specialists in administration and Congressional circles, has been nominated by United States President Barack Obama to a senior State Department position.
US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has said the attack on Sri Lanka cricketers in Lahore is a reminder of the threat of militancy not just to Pakistan, but to the entire world.
The chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, US Congressman Howard Berman, has said that he is closely reviewing all American assistance being provided to Pakistan and that "to the extent we are going to provide security assistance, it should be focused on counter-terrorism, not rekindling an arms race in South Asia."
US Congress fires first salvo on the eve of ElBaradei's visit to India and even before the 123 Agreement is presented to NSG, presents laundry list of concerns in legislation.
'The Bush administration, through a gag order on its written responses to Congressional questions, had sought to keep the Indian public in the dark on the larger implications of the nuclear deal, lest the accord run into rougher weather. But now its 26 pages of written answers have been publicly released by a senior United States Congressman.'
United States Congressman Dan Burton, Indiana Republican and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who was in the 1980s and 1990s India's bete-noire on Capitol Hill, after a considerable hiatus when he took a sabbatical against castigating India, seems to have had a relapse, this time at the urging of the Kashmiri American Council and the pro-Pakistan lobby.
Even before the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement gets a nod from the Nuclear Supplier's Group, a hint of the US Congressional opposition has surfaced, in the form of a salvo fired by Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.Berman, a California Democrat, was the author of several 'killer amendments' to the enabling Hyde Act when it was debated and voted on the floor in 2006, all of which were defeated.
Robert O Blake, the new Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, making his debut before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday, said Secretary of State Hillary's Clinton's trip to India next month will be a tangible manifestation of the Obama Administration's commitment to take the Indo-US relationship to the next level.
Lantos said the objective of his legislation is two-fold: "To prevent Iran from securing nuclear arms and the means to produce them. And to ensure that we achieve this goal in a peaceful manner."
The subcommittee, a key panel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has jurisdiction over United States policy towards all countries in the two regions, including important US allies Israel and India.
"We will support nothing with India in the NSG that is in contradiction to the Hyde Act. It will have to be completely consistent with the obligations of the Hyde Act," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the House Foreign Affairs Panel.
California representative Lantos was one of the key members of the Congress who were instrumental in getting the Henry J Hyde Act pertaining to the civilian nuclear initiative between India and the United States passed in 2006.
Sunak, 42, has consistently topped the shortlist since voting began last week and on Monday he bagged 115 votes in the third round, which leaves only four candidates in the race.
Early last year, officials of the Beijing State Security Bureau had asked Yahoo China for information about dissident journalist Shi Tao. In an action that aroused ire worldwide, Yahoo elected to give up the information from its database; Tao was subsequently arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison for his pro-democracy writings.
Joe Wilson, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has exhorted India-Americans to support the deal
Convening a hearing titled US Policy Towards Pakistan, Ackerman slammed Islamabad for its continuing duplicity in helping the US in its global war on terror.
A Bill has been introduced in the US Congress aimed at enforcing punitive action against companies doing business with Iran that may impact Indo-US nuclear pact and create obstacles for Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.
Lantos was one of the critical law makers involved in the passage of the Henry Hyde Act of 2006 on the Indo-US nuclear deal. A strong supporter of India, he had made no bones of his displeasure on New Delhi's relations with Iran.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday chose Lt Gen Asim Munir as the new Army chief to replace incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
'Let's hold the (applause) until he's convicted'
Top law makers led by Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives Tom Lantos have urged the Bush administration to maintain favorable conditions for importing products from India to keep up the pace of its trade with the Uni
'The attack killed 166 innocents, including six Americans. We will never let terrorists win, or even come close to winning!' he said.
'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.'
They also asked Pak to take 'demonstrable action' against terrorist groups within its territory.
Gandhi had recently alleged in London that the structures of Indian democracy are under "brutal attack" and there is a full-scale assault on the institutions of the country.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said if 'you look at the totality of our ties and we will look at where we have strong economic synergies, where we have strong technology promptings, these are really based on the flow of talent.'
The amendment urges the US to enhance India's military capabilities in the context of combined military planning, and promote co-production/co-development opportunities.
The US is the worst-hit nation with 211,793 deaths and 7,549,429 infections.
A Pentagon official concerned with evacuation operations said the reason the Taliban wants to prevent these people from leaving is likely because they intend to punish them for their cooperation with the US.
Republican Party leaders have denied extending an invitation to Narendra Modi to address Congressional leaders and Indian-Americans via video link next week.
