'Part of the problem lies in the US failure to stay focused on the goal of convincing Pakistan to crack down on terrorists that attack India.'
The meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United States President Barack Obama will be held as per schedule on September 27 at the White House, despite the latter being busy due to the ongoing Syrian crisis.
The implications of the interim deal between Iran and the world's big powers go far beyond the nuclear programme, says Nitin Pai
The United States and Cuba have announced that they have formally re-established diplomatic relations after 54-year freeze and would reopen embassies in their respective capitals from July 20, a major step towards normalisation of ties between the Cold War foes.
The United States is looking forward to a "very substantive and consequential" visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington later next month and is working on a "pretty ambitious roadmap" for his bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama, a top American official said.
Tillerson, 64, who was confirmed by the Senate in a 56-43 vote, was administered the oath of office by Vice President Mike Pence.
'The threat that India faces and the threat the United States faces is not just to the homeland, but to our people and to our institutions wherever they may be.' In an exclusive conversation with Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com, US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal outlines the importance of Prime Minister Modi's visit for America.
'I know how important the India-US partnership is, as evidenced by President Obama's planned visit in January. I can assure you we will work hard to realise his vision of India and the US becoming and remaining the closest of friends and strategic partners.'
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China is the top greenhouse gas emitter, ahead of the United States, the European Union and India.
"It is a reflection of the bipartisan support in the US to the relationship with India. It is also a reflection of the value people attach to this relationship," Singh said.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 10 images.
President Barack Obama has authorised deployment of less than 50 special operations forces in northern Syria to counter the IS, a senior official in Washington said on Friday, expanding the US' involvement in the fight against the dreaded group from the air to the ground.
Modi presented Obama with a richly silk-covered special edition of Mahatma Gandhi's interpretation of the Bhagvad Gita, and recordings of Dr Martin Luther King's speech when he visited India in 1959 and also a specially framed photograph of Dr King when he visited Rajghat. Modi had scrupulously researched and selected these gifts for Obama and more gifts would be presented on Tuesday during their summit for both the President and the First Family.
In a rare move that might end the chronic impasse between arch-enemies the United States and Iran, President Barack Obama could meet his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif continues his exhortation for US mediation in Kashmir, and harks back to his meeting with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when the latter had agreed to a resolution of Kashmir imbroglio; senior us officials assert there is 'absolutely no change in us policy' that Kashmir has to be resolved bilaterally. Aziz Haniffa reports.
Here are some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by...
'Devyani -- she is a public servant and her personal life has already received far too much attention -- and her ambitious father now need to retreat to the background so that wiser diplomatic heads restore sanity to India-US relations as India prepares for parliamentary elections,' says Ambassador K C Singh.
India Inc enables the US' frostiness to India.
'The clique that runs that country is treating us like suckers. We are very foolish, giving people money who involve themselves in activity that's harmful to America.' 'When you look at the cold hard facts, Pakistan is not an ally to the United States. They have facilitated, they have encouraged, they have been a protector of enemies.'
Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid speaks about the importance of the fourth edition of the India-US Strategic Dialogue, which he co-chaired with United States Secretary of State John Kerry in New Delhi
Syria has appealed to the UN to try to "prevent any aggression" against it and said US military action would amount to "support for Al Qaeda and its affiliates," even as President Barack Obama today lobbied with war-weary American lawmakers to convince them for a strike.
A round-up of our favourite photographs from the week gone by.
'One lesson to emerge out of the Modi-Putin summit is that India can be more self-confident that it possesses inherent strengths to leverage its interlocutors to influence Pakistani policies,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'When it comes to India-Pakistan relations, seminal moments of progress invariably bring out saboteurs of peace -- whether we're talking about fresh provocations along the LoC, or even a terror attack in India.'
The Obama administration sees India not only as a land of huge potential for expanded business and trade but also as a strategic partner in the face of an increasingly assertive China, whose leader visited Modi in India last week.
United States President Barack Obama on Saturday warned lawmakers against turning "a blind eye" to chemical attacks in Syria as he made a strong pitch to war-weary Americans for "limited" strikes in the strife-torn country.
The US president said new sanctions would be imposed, adding 'America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail'.
Pyongyang wants the world to recognise its nuclear capability, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
'An operation such as the Mumbai attacks, which needed expert technical assessment, money and time to prepare, could not have been carried out without the knowledge of the ISI's leadership.'
US congressional leaders on trade and finance wrote to the US International Trade Commission calling for a second investigation into India's 'unfair' trade practices, detailing any changes under Modi.
'The American envoy has not quit over any tension in ties or over any issue related to meeting BJP PM hopeful Narendra Modi.'
Obama seeks reduction of nuclear arsenal in India and Pakistan while Pakistan seeks NSG membership
After weighing all the costs and benefits, the next administration is likely to reduce and restructure assistance to Pakistan but not to end it altogether, says Daniel S Markey.
'The real problem that has affected Tarantino's films is not their amorality. On the contrary, it's their misplaced morality.' 'The basic pitches for his movies, off late, tackle such pre-resolved issues, that they don't quite allow his pop-culture sensibilities to hit a crescendo and instead reduces them to trinkets in service of broad movie prototypes.' 'Which means that neither history nor cinema triumphs.'
'We have never before seen an Indian prime minister's visit to the United States so heavily business-oriented and so packed with meetings with the US business community.' Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC.
Diplomatic and Congressional sources tell Rediff.com that for all intents and purposes, the F-16 sale is dead.
In a historic decision, President Barack Obama announced a series of steps aimed at normalising relations with communist-ruled Cuba, with which the US had severed diplomatic ties decades ago imposing a series of sanctions on its island neighbour.
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.
'A top Russian diplomat, Ambassador Alexander Aksenyonok told me in Sochi, Moscow is keen on a political settlement in Syria "as early as possible -- which is also our exit strategy",' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The time is over when United States President Barack Obama thought he could afford to make a joke about the ISIS.
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