United States President Barack Obama has defended the controversial surveillance programme of the National Security Agency, saying such secret operations are 'transparent' as these were carefully supervised and controlled. Edward Snowden, a former NSA systems analyst contractor, has leaked documents revealing the Obama administration's spying programmes that gather phone records of Americans and track the use of United States-based internet servers by foreigners.
In a brief speech, United States President Barak Obama has welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Yours is the first official state visit of my presidency.Its fitting that you and India be so recognised," Obama told Singh at the ceremonial welcome at the White House.
On the eve of US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke's visit to the South Asia, The Guardian newspaper has said Pakistan is the greatest foreign policy challenge for the Barack Obama administration.
United States President Barack Obama will visit India this summer, making him the first US President to visit India in the first two years of his first term in more than 30 years, senior administration officials and diplomatic sources.According to the sources, more details regarding the finalisation of dates will be discussed when Dr Singh arrives in Washington, DC on April 12 on a two-day visit, on the invitation of Obama, to attend the Global Nuclear Security Summit.
Robert Gibbs, who served as White House press secretary for the first two years of the Obama administration, has formally joined his re-election campaign as a roving surrogate and strategic consultant.
The provision in this regard is expected to be included by US President Barack Obama when he rolls out his annual budget next month, media reports said.
The Obama Administration has announced setting up of an institute for manufacturing innovations which will help prevent jobs going to India and China.
The report contains a significant Hindu American perspective, including the community's seva efforts across the country.
When asked about recent rhetoric from top Republican leaders including the former Vice President, Dick Cheney, who in a CNN interview had alleged that Obama is making US unsafe, Jindal said: 'Democrat or Republican, we should all agree that our current President and our former President would obviously want to do everything they could to keep us safe. I don't think we should question President Obama's patriotism or his intentions.'
US President Barack Obama has unveiled a $13 billion plan to develop a nationwide high speed rail network, which he argued "will be faster, cheaper and easier than building more freeways or adding to an already overburdened aviation system".
Bringing cheers to more than 1.5 million Cuban-Americans, the Obama Administration said on Monday it has lifted all restrictions related to the travel of family members to Cuba and removed restrictions on remittances to their family members in the island.
Obama has appointed eminent Indian American attorney, Amy K Singh, as President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the prestigious John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the White House has said.
Last week 36-year-old Khanna, who has previously served in the Obama administration as one of his top ranking trade official, had announced his Congressional bid for the 2014 general elections from California against his own partyman and incumbent Mike Honda from California's 17th Congressional district as the new State laws allows two opponents from the same party to run against each other in general elections.
India needs to be assertive in its stance that it will not sit down for a dialogue where it is treated at par with its anarchic and erratic neighbour.
Donald Trump's exaggerated opinion of his dealmaking capacity can get him into trouble, observes R Sriram.
The Indo-US strategic relations deepened further in 2009 which saw installation of Barack Obama as the first black President, who attached high importance to bilateral ties and invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his first state guest.
Facing a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, the Barack Obama administration seems to believe in a 'buyout' formula, which involves paying the militants to leave the outfit and reintegrate into mainstream society. President Barack Obama signed a $680 billion defence appropriations bill, which will pay for military operations in the 2010 fiscal year. The bill includes a Taliban reintegration provision under the Commander's Emergency Response Programme.
'India is one of the most important and promising emerging markets in the world, and represents a tremendous opportunity for US firms to expand their output of goods and services.'
As Administrator of the USAID, Shah is the highest-ranking Indian American in any US presidential administration and is leading the massive US efforts in rescue and recovery efforts in Haiti.
As US President Barack Obama took ownership of a new comprehensive strategy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan to counter the Al Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban, senior Administration officials acknowledged that India would be a key stakeholder in these efforts too, although New Delhi will not be invited to put boots on the ground in this renewed fight against terrorism because of its regional problems with Pakistan.
US experts believe it is imperative for Obama to "demonstrate that he recognises India's increasingly important role in the broader Asia region, and his interest in building a long-term strategic relationship. He must quell concern that India is a side issue for his administration, which has been consumed by Afghanistan and Pakistan and also heavily emphasising working with China."
Blake said, "What this visit will be remembered for is that it will mark really the first time that we have really embarked on serious, specific, global strategic cooperation in areas like open government, in areas like agriculture, or in women's empowerment, or in working together in Africa, working together in Afghanistan."
United States President Barack Obama celebrated Diwali in the East Room of the White House on October 14 by lighting a 'diya' accompanied by Vedic chants by a Hindu priest.
After the Congress secured an unexpected victory at the recently held Lok Sabha polls, United States President Barack Obama issued a statement, saying he looks forward to "continuing to work with the Indian government to enhance the warm partnership between our two countries." However, the Obama administration has not yet taken any decisive steps toward cementing Indo-US ties, observes a report from California's Pacific Council on International Policy and FICCI.
Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president and a champion of peace and human rights, has died at the age of 100. Carter, who was known for his work with the Carter Center, promoting democracy and conflict resolution, was also a close friend of India. He visited the country in 1978, forging a lasting relationship between the two nations.
"What I am going to restate is a basic principle. Number one, if a country is attacked, it has the right to defend itself. I think that is universally acknowledged," Obama asserted. "The second thing is that we need a strategic partnership with all the parts in the region -- Pakistan and India and the Afghanistan government -- to stamp out militant, violent, terrorist extremists."
The strategic partnership between India and the United States has "retreated" under the current Obama Administration as compared to the momentum built during the Bush-era, Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign has said.
Officials of the US State Department have been briefing the media about the kind of honours that will be accorded to Dr Singh when he visits Washington. These are meant to show that there has been no change in US policies towards India under the Obama administration. The reality is that on every matter, which is of concern to India, greater attention is being paid to China's sensitivities and concerns.
President Donald Trump on Saturday accused his predecessor Barack Obama of "wire tapping" his office in New York just before the 2016 presidential elections and likened the alleged surveillance of his communications to the "Watergate" scandal.
Report recommends government open up to cooperation with private sector.
China is not manipulating its currency, but the yuan remains undervalued, the Obama administration told the US Congress in a report.
The Obama administration on Saturday launched a probe into high-profile leaks of classified national security secrets to journalists and writers.
United States President Barack Obama appointed Denis R McDonough, one of his top foreign policy advisors and longtime trusted aide as his next Chief of Staff.
The administration's attempt to buy an unused prison in Thomson, Illinois to relocate the 180 remaining detainees in Guantanamo Bay, which also includes the five conspirators, has also been blocked by the Republicans, the New York Daily News reported.
"The Council will inform and provide advice to the President and other senior US officials on US global development policies and practices, support new and existing public-private partnerships, and increase awareness and action in support of development by soliciting public input on current and emerging issues in the field of global development," the White House said.
The Barack Obama administration has announced the appointment of a prosecutor to investigate prison abuse cases that were carried out as part of the torture programme during the eight years of the George W Bush era. The announcement in this regard was made by Attorney General Eric H Holder soon after the Justice Department released a long-secret report on Central Intelligence Agency's interrogation techniques during the Bush administration's tenure, post-9/11.
A lot of significance is being attached to US President Barack Obama's visit to Mumbai, but for former Mumbai Police Commissioner M N Singh, the visit is nothing more than a symbolic one.
In the brief telephonic conversation, Obama condoled the loss of lives, the Prime Minister's Office said, adding, "The two leaders took the opportunity to review developments in Indo-US relations."
The apparent consensus among South Asia watchers and experts in United States is that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's three-day visit to Mumbai and New Delhi was a slam dunk in effectively quashing the contention of naysayers, both in India and the US, that the Barack Obama administration was less committed to the India-US strategic partnership than its predecessor George W Bush administration.
The United States is the worst affected country in the world from the coronavirus infection. There are 1.3 million coronavirus cases in the country and the death toll stands at 78,000.
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