Amid concern over some NGOs misusing foreign aid, the United States is preparing an online searchable database containing a vetted list of transparent and accountable Indian non-government bodies so that philanthropists can safely donate funds to them.
Love them, hate them but the Oscars have a way of sneaking up on you.
Ruling out the possibility of establishing a military base or having permanent boots on the ground in Maldives, a top Barack Obama administration official has said that the United States has consulted India on the Status of Forces Agreement, which it is currently negotiating with the island nation.
Outsourcing could be one of the campaign issues.
The Obama Administration is encouraged by recent steps taken by the governments of India and Pakistan to initiate closer trade and commercial ties.
The United States on Friday asked Sri Lanka to speed up its probe into allegations of rights abuses during the civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, resume talks with Tamil parties on power sharing and reduce the role of the military in the former conflict zone.
Taking part in an interaction following his speech to a conference of US-India Relations, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Robert Blake announced that US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will make her first trip to New Delhi in the spring for meetings with her counterpart Home Minister P Chidambaram and other senior officials in the Ministry and intelligence agencies.
"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.
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.
The US government has expressed its dissatisfaction over the progress made by Sri Lanka in rehabilitating the war-hit Tamils living in detainee camps and in reconciliating with political parties of Tamils and Muslims in the country.
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr are among the heroes of United States President Barack Obama, a senior Obama administration official has said. "Barack Obama, first African-American president and a student of those principles, identifies Gandhi's autobiography and Taylor Branch's terrific three-part biography of King, as works that helped shape him," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said.
Demanding a free and fair election in Maldives, the country's ousted President Mohamed Nasheed has said he does not want to topple the government of the day.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had a long conversation over the current situation in Sri Lanka, a State Department official has said.
The Obama administration has declared that the Indian American community has always been and will continue to be indispensable to the United States-India Strategic Dialogue. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, who will be by Secretary Hillary Clinton's side as she co-chairs the talks with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, explained how integral the Indian American community has been to this dialogue.
Seeking to strike common ground with China on key matters related to South Asia, the US has said it wants Beijing to "coordinate more" with its efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" Al-Qaeda.
The theme for this years conference is 'India: Gaining Momentum'.
Confirming rediff.com's scoop of October 15 on how United States officials wanted US President Barack Obama to endorse India's bid for permanent membership in the United States Security Council, advising him it could make his India visit truly historic, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Robert Blake said Monday, that even though the President's announcement of support for India's candidacy during his address to Parliament came as a surprise to many people,
Just a week after President Barack Obama's endorsement for India's permanent membership in the UN Security Council, the US has said no breakthrough is expected "anytime soon" on the UNSC reforms.
The decision by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom to place India on its 'Watch List,' for what it said was "the government's largely inadequate response to protecting religious minorities," will not impact in any way on the growing US-India strategic partnership, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake has said.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake was asked pointedly by rediff.com to respond to a growing perception that Pakistan was hedging on punishing the terrorists behind the Mumbai terror attack and the US was backing off from applying too much pressure on Islamabad because of its strategic interests. Blake said, "First of all, let me say these are really a very complicated set of issues that are for India and Pakistan to resolve."
Given the current geo-political situation in South Asia, a top Barack Obama administration official on Thursday confirmed that Pakistan will figure in talks when United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Indian leaders, during her upcoming visit to India. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake appreciated the recent meetings between the leaders of India and Pakistan and identified it as a positive development.
Ahead of the crucial Indo-United States strategic dialogue, the Obama administration has said that counter-terrorism cooperation with India is a "very high priority" for it as it would help prevent Mumbai-type attacks in future.
The United States looks forward to enhancing strategic partnership with India and is likely to make some announcements on it 'fairly soon'. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in his confirmation hearing, Robert Blake told American Senators that Obama is committed to strengthening the existing strategic partnership between the two countries. "President Obama has said that the United States sees India as a global power," he said.
The United States has said the Sri Lankan government must respect the rights of detained former army chief Sarath Fonseka as it underlined the need for 'greater transparency' in the court martial proceedings against the top general. "We haven't seen the specifics of the charges (of court martials), but we have consistently stressed that it is important that General Fonseka's rights be respected and that he be accorded a full due process," said Robert Blake.
Robert Blake says the United States wants to partner India on a range of global issues.
US has said that it is yet to take a decision on Lashkar operative David Coleman Headley's extradition to India, said Robert Blake, the Obama Administration's point man for South Asia, especially India-Pakistan relations.
Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Robert Blake said Pakistan had frequently raised the controversial and contentious water issue with India during his recent trip to Islamabad, but added that the US had no intention of intervening in the bilateral issue.
It was Bharatiya Janata Party's turn yet again to be hit by Wikileaks cables with a US diplomat reporting that its senior leader Arun Jaitley had remarked to him that Hindu nationalism is an "opportunistic issue" for his party.
In a volte-face, the United States has said no decision has been taken on providing India direct access to 26/11 accused David Headley.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus enjoys great respect in the US for all of his work to help the poor in Bangladesh.
In an interaction that followed his keynote speech at a conference on US-India Relations, Barack Obama administration's point man for South Asia, Robert Blake was asked how he saw the Indo-US partnership playing out in the UN Security Council in the wake of the US endorsement.
Bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice is an important task to finish for Pakistan, which also needs to look into the issue of Hafiz Saeed, accused by India of masterminding the terror strike, besides preventing cross-border infiltration, the United States has said.
Barack Obama's trip to India next month would be his longest stay overseas in a country as US President, which reflects the importance he attaches to building strategic relationship between the two largest democratic countries of the world.
United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, while briefing reporters on the meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on the sidelines of the 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the issue of direct and complete access to Pakistani American and Lashkar operative David Coleman had not come up at all at these talks.
It is very much in the interest of India and United States to continue to engage with Pakistan, even if Islamabad has not taken enough steps to meet the demands of New Delhi about punishing those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks, a Obama administration official has said. "It is very much in our interest and it is very much in the interest of India to continue to engage Pakistan," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said.
Noting that the country was on track to have the largest economy by 2050, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said, "India is a rising giant whose influence is being felt not only in the Indian Ocean, but in the Americas, in Africa, West Asia, and in Central Asia."
Virtually supporting India's precondition for any peace talks with Pakistan, a top United States diplomat on Thursday said Islamabad needs to do more to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, which claimed over 170 lives including six Americans. Robert Blake, now tipped to become the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department, told a powerful Congressional Committee that Pakistan needs to do more on 26/11.
As the Indian Institute of Technology- Kanpur (IIT-K) is celebrating its 50th anniversary, a top US official said the success story of this leading Indian institute reflects the Indo-US cooperation in the field of education.
The United States has once again made it clear that it would not interfere in issues concerning India and Pakistan, and that they should be resolved by the two countries themselves.
United States has begun preparations to accord a "robust" welcome to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November, the first state visit of the Obama administration, to make it a special visit for the Indian leader and a "milestone" event in the Indo-US relationship.
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