India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
For San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Devi Harris -- the first African-American and the first Indian-American to do so, who is seeking to create history by becoming California's first lady -- her mother is her mentor.
In a major move that will benefit hundreds and thousands of Indian IT professionals in America, the Biden administration has introduced an ambitious immigration bill in Congress which among other things proposes to eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based green cards.
According to the Biden-Harris Transition, 'the president-elect noted that he looks forward to working closely with the prime minister on shared global challenges, including containing COVID-19 and defending against future health crises, tackling the threat of climate change, launching the global economic recovery, strengthening democracy at home and abroad, and maintaining a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region'.
Lobbying on the Hill is time consuming and cumbersome, but very effective to influence US government policies, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Washington, DC after the 1998 nuclear tests and during the Kargil War.
Both the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama, have issued messages congratulating India, its people, and the Indian-American community on India's 61st anniversary of its Independence, with Obama issuing a similar message congratulating Pakistan, its people and the Pakistani-American community too.
Bharatiya Jaanta Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has challenged UPA leaders to submit a performance report on nine-years of rule and hoped that the 2014 general elections, like in 1977, would reflect the voice of the people of India.
This is the largest-ever purchase and donation of vaccines by a single country and a commitment by the American people to help protect people around the world from COVID-19, the White House said ahead of the announcement by Biden at the G-7 Summit in the UK.
Unimpressed by United States President Barack Obama's fiery speech seeking re-election, the two Indian-American governors, Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal, on Friday said that Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, is the best person to lead the country. Both Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, and Haley, the governor of South Carolina, are rising stars of the Republican Party.
The Indian and Chinese armies have been locked in a bitter standoff at multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for over eight weeks since May 5.
The international community must be clear that such a behaviour is unacceptable, a top US senator said.
When 17 million Indians seek their fortune abroad it only means people are losing faith in the government's ability to honour its promises, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
The Indian American community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylavania held a small reception/fundraiser for Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama recently.
India on Thursday condemned Omar's visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Soon-to-be Indian American United States Congressman Dr Amerish 'Ami' Bera has appointed long-time Democratic and community activist and erstwhile Congressional staffer Mini Timmaraju as his chief of staff.Hyderabad-born and Texas-raised Timmaraju, 39, is currently the director of the Office of the President at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and a former district director for US Congressman Nick Lampson of Texas.
Political analysts believe that an aggressive Harris, 55, who aspires to be the first woman vice-president in history, will easily prevail over Pence, 61, during the only vice-presidential debate and help Biden, 77, to widen his lead over Trump, 74.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a joint session of the US Congress on June 22 during his official state visit to the country, top congressional leaders announced on Friday.
Haley, in her forthcoming memoir, has claimed that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former White House chief of staff John Kelly attempted to recruit her to undermine President Trump in an effort to "save the country," according to The Washington Post.
The spell that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast over US lawmakers nearly two months during his visit to the United States has still not worn off, as was manifest by the gushing nostalgia of the Modi magic by both Democratic and Republican party representatives at the Congressional Diwali celebration on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
Harris, an appointed at-large delegate from California to the convention, said, "I was very proud to be one of the first elected in California to endorse Barack Obama. I supported him for the US Senate and he supported me in my race to become the first Indian-American district attorney in the country."
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.
Pramila Jayapal, the first and the only Indian-American Congresswoman in the House of Representatives, and Congressman James P McGovern said the international media and independent human rights observers must immediately be allowed into Jammu and Kashmir to investigate reports of abuse.
'There will be very strong interest in cooperating with India under any future American administration, but on the margins India will need to be careful not to tip its hand regarding the election.'
The start of Indian lobbying in the US can be traced back to Pakistan's anti-India lobbying. Policy wonk Ashok Sharma documents this journey and its catalytic role in transforming the US-India relationship.
The advert, on the occasion of the 'Ganesh Chaturthi' festival, included the imagery of Lord Ganesha with the text, 'Would you worship a donkey or an elephant? The choice is yours.'
The bill moved after months of closed-door meetings by a group of eight bipartisan lawmakers, known as the Gang of Eight, aimed at striking a balance between enforcement provisions sought by Republicans as well as Democrats, including making citizenship widely accessible to those illegally in America.
But Indian information technology workers might do better without the companies that held them back, says Mihir S Sharma.
The US Senate has confirmed Indian-American woman administrator Nisha Desai Biswal as the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, making her the first person from the community to hold the top diplomatic position.
The only Indian American lawmaker in the United States Congress, Dr Amerish 'Ami' Bera, on Tuesday made his debut as a member of a Congressional Committee that has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to South Asia.
India is one of the few countries in the region that enjoys good relations with both Israel and Saudi Arabia, and IMEC would allow it to recreate the old Spice Route to Europe. All this is in jeopardy now, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
Trump, who lost the November 3 elections, would be succeeded by Joe Biden on January 20 as mandated by the Constitution.
Harris, 51, whose mother was from Chennai and father from Jamaica, is one among the six Democratic leaders, whom The Washington Post said are the top contenders to bag the party's nomination for the 2020 presidential elections.
Indian-American Aneesh Chopra, the former technology czar of United States President Barack Obama, has announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination for Virginia Lieutenant Governor, six months after he quit the White House to pursue his political goals.
A group of top American Senators who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week said they made a case to him that this is a battle between autocracy and democracy, and emphasised that democracies must unite in increasing their help to Ukraine.
United States President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American Vivek Murthy for the post of Surgeon General, which a top American lawmaker described as a historic moment for the community across the country.
Rediff.com/India Abroad's George Joseph speaks to scores of Indian Americans in Sandy-hit New York and New Jersey to know their take on the ongoing US presidential elections.
On Wednesday, soon after Obama's triumph, Sant Chatwal told photographer Mohammed Jaffer/Snaps India, "She is still a candidate for president and is making her case as to why she should be the nominee. She's going to be taking the next couple of days to make her case to unpledged delegates and super delegates."
'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.'
'India will want a lot of help from the US, but it's not going to want US troops.'
Prominent Indian-American politician and Deputy Speaker of New Jersey State Assembly, Upendra Chivukula, is all set to run for the United States House of Representatives in the national elections in November.
