The US on Thursday introduced a new facility for premium processing of permanent residency, or Green Card, applications from foreign nationals that are willing to make heavy investment in US, resulting in creation of jobs.
Even as terrorism emanating from Yemen is a major security concern for the United States, a top Obama administration official has said Al Qaeda core in Pakistan remains an 'extraordinarily formidable and dangerous terrorist organisation' targeting America.
History shows that when women and girls have access to opportunity, societies are more just, economies are more likely to prosper and governments are more likely to serve the needs of all their people, US President Barack Obama has said on the occasion of 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.
The United States had reached a tentative deal with the Taliban to allow, among other things, the transfer of five Afghans from the Guantanamo Bay prison in lieu of their public renunciation of terrorism, but the agreement failed to take off because of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's objections. A report in the Washington Post has claimed that the deal was the closest the two parties came to genuine peace negotiations after nearly a year of talks.
Rejecting Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's criticism of the unilateral action that killed Osama bin Laden, the United States on Monday asserted that it would not apologise to the Pakistan government for the incident.
Outsourcing could be one of the campaign issues.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who suddenly left Islamabad for Dubai reportedly to undergo some regular medical tests, is said to be on his way out, apparently under pressure from the powerful army.
Quoting unnamed officials from the Obama administration, The Cable blog of Foreign Policy magazine said that growing expectations inside the US government are that Zardari may be on the way out. A former US official told the Cable that parts of the US government were informed that 56-year-old Zardari had a "minor heart attack" on Monday night and flew to Dubai via air ambulance.
South Asia watchers are mixed in their opinion about whether the exposure of the Pakistani Inter Service Intelligence's incestuous relationship with the Taliban would result in the Obama administration coming down hard on Pakistan's double-game.
The Obama administration has ruled out halting the strikes by the CIA operated unmanned planes, which have been billed as the most potent anti-terror weapon, ABC news reported quoting unnamed US officials.
European countries have the necessary resources and capabilities to deal with the current economic crisis that has engulfed them, the White House said.
One of India's closest friends in the United States Congress, Representative Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat, on Tuesday asked Obama administration's point man for South Asia Robert Blake, as to what would happen if after the nuclear disaster in Japan, India may decide to forego the US-India civilian nuclear deal and rely more heavily on Iran for its energy requirements.
Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to Washington, has been summoned to Islamabad following reports that he sought United States help to rein in the country's powerful generals in the wake of the raid that killed Al QaeOsama bin Laden. He has offered his resignation to defuse a growing controversy at home that threatens to aggravate already precarious relations between Pakistan's military and its government.
To open gates to Free Trade Agreement between two countries in next 5yrs
The US has welcomed Pakistani cabinet's move to grant the much-delayed Most Favoured Nation trade status to India, terming it a positive development towards the economic integration of the region.
The United States has welcomed Pakistani cabinet's move to grant the much-delayed Most Favoured Nation trade status to India, terming it a positive development towards the economic integration of the region.
Ahead of the crucial Istanbul conference on Afghanistan, the United States has said it wants India and China to play a "constructive role" in bringing long-term peace to the war-torn country.
In a statement, Energy Secretary Earnest Moniz said this is the most ambitious initiative any president in history has taken to reduce heat-trapping emissions.
Experts have warned that the Raymond Davis case could affect the flow of billions of dollars of economic and military aid to Pakistan and complicate the United States-led war on terror in Afghanistan
Neera Tanden's father abandoned his family when she was just five years old, in a strange land. Now, she has been named as the first Indian-American head of a major Washington, DC-based think-tank, reports Aziz Haniffa
United States President Barack Obama has reiterated his administration's commitment towards building an active, cooperative and comprehensive relationship with China, which requires strong diplomatic and military ties. Obama's assurance to China came during his meeting with Xu Caihou, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, at the White House. Obama recalled his two previous meetings with the Chinese president.
United States has announced $150 million in aid to Egypt in support of its transition process towards democracy following the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The Obama administration is also dispatching William Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, and David Lipton, a senior White House adviser on international economics, to Egypt next week to talk with the interim military government on issues related to transition.
Peiris reiterated, "We don't want Amnesty International telling us what to do.What is the moral authority of Amnesty International?We do not think that they have any coercive moral authority to tell us what to do."
The Barack Obama administration's decision to improve the nation's immigration detention system including ending family detention at the T Don Hutto Residential Centre -- an erstwhile state penitentiary in Taylor, Texas -- was a major victory for Indian American attorney Vanita Gupta.Gupta led the lawsuit against Hutto over two years ago, and exposed the inhumane conditions under which immigrant detainees, especially children of mostly asylum seekers, were incarcerated.
"Opening transit trade to India would be transformative, because India is going to be such an important economic anchor for the region in the 21st century," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said.
Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman was recently the target of an assassination attempt, in which two of his bodyguards were killed.A senior Obama administration official confirmed that the attack happened soon after Suleiman was appointed on January 29. The official described it as an organised attack on Suleiman's motorcade.Suleiman may take over as interim leader of Egypt in some of the proposals reportedly being considered for an expedited political transition.
After intense pressure from the United States, Pakistan has reportedly agreed to launch a full-scale offensive against the Taliban and other extremist organisations in their stronghold North Waziristan, but has also clarified to the Obama administration that the timing of the military offensive would be decided by it.
Embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is likely to step down immediately and turn over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman, backed by the army.
Echoing India's concerns over Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's move toward reconciliation and reintegration of segments of the Taliban into the Afghan government -- which has been endorsed by the Obama administration -- Dr Abdullah Abdullah, erstwhile Afghan foreign minister and Karzai's nemesis, who was a candidate in the controversial 2009 presidential elections, said pursuing such a policy would be a futile exercise.
United States President Barack Obama claimed credit for the policies employed by his administration to tackle the global economic crisis during a visit to an auto plant rescued from bankruptcy with federal aid on Tuesday, where he warned the world not to bet against America.
An Indian-American entrepreneur was among a select group of business leaders invited by US President Barack Obama for consultations on the ongoing government shutdown and its impact on them.
Acknowledging that there are differences between India and the US on issues like Libya and Syria, a top Obama administration official has said the two countries need to "redouble" their efforts to work together to reduce any misunderstanding between them.
Menon reached Washington late Thursday night, several hours after his scheduled arrival, due to inclement weather in the region because of which his flights had to be diverted.
A US federal judge in Houston has declared illegal a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, including hundreds of Indians, brought to the US as children, but noted that the government can continue to process renewals of its current recipients.
The top Obama Administration official said the US will negotiate agreements that commit its trading partners to protecting American intellectual property, such as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
"When wages rise in China, India, Brazil and elsewhere it helps relieve downward pressure on American wages," Labour Secretary Hilda Solis said.
Noting that Pakistan is a complicated country, which faces huge economic, energy and water shortage, a top Obama administration official has said that the country needs the United States' support.
Pakistan's promise to contain its activities has simply failed to affect the LeT at all as the group's activities have intensified, observes Amir Mir
Former Maldivian president Mohammed Nasheed has sought a "robust" US support for free and fair elections in his country that has been hit by political crisis following a regime change.
Appreciating its 'responsible' behaviour, the United States has said it will not push India to sign the Non Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty 'for quite some time,' but sought New Delhi's cooperation to strengthen the global non-proliferation regime.
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