The United States has refused to confirm or deny reports claiming Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has rebuffed top intelligence officials of the Bush administration, on proposed American operations inside Pakistan, including joint operations.
Rahul Bedi, who has been writing relentlessly on India's strategic and defence related issues, thinks this year will cement India-United States defence ties like never before. New Delhi-based Bedi is a correspondent for the prestigious Jane's Defence Weekly spoke to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Suspicious of deepening ties between India and the United States, Pakistan is reluctant to plunge into war with Afghan militants and even high-profile visits of US officials have failed to win over a military and civilian establishment in Islamabad, a media report said.
United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday ruled out the possibility of his country playing a role in facilitating the resumption of the composite dialogue between Pakistan and India, which has been stalled since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday asked New Delhi and Washington to share any information they have about possible terrorist attacks in India by Pakistan-based militant groups.
Overriding strong objections from Islamabad, the United States has conveyed to Pakistan that missile strikes to take out high value militant targets inside its territory would continue. This decision of the new US administration was made known by the Defence Secretary Robert Gates in his testimony before the Senate armed services committee, where he also outlined that Pentagon was preparing to send two more army brigades to Afghanistan.
America, hit by the financial crisis, may lose its superpower status that has forced the country to dramatically scale down its engagement with the rest of the world, outgoing United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the US Joint Forces Command would close, the use of outside contractors would be cut and the number of generals and admirals reduced. The command, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, has an annual budget of US $ 240 million and 2,800 military and civilian employees.
Amid strong reactions from Pakistan to United States-led coalition forces' raids against militants on its soil, the Bush administration has refused to comment on the issue, evading queries on the reported go-ahead given to American special forces by President George W Bush.Asked whether the forces operating in Afghanistan had the powers to launch cross-border attacks, Defence Secretary Robert Gates refused to address the issue.
Indian-Americans in the Washington metropolitan area accorded visiting Indian Defence Minister A K Antony -- on his maiden visit to the United States on the invitation of Defence Secretary Robert Gates -- a rousing welcome on his arrival at the Washington Dulles International Airport on Sunday evening. Dr Parthasarathy Pillai, a community icon in the Washington, DC area and erstwhile national president of the National Federation of Indian Associations were at the airport.
United States Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, has profusely apologised and expeditiously gone on damage control mode after stating that 'a rising India' is a grave threat to the US. The Senator from Texas states that the F-22's are "important to our national security because we're not just fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We're fighting --we have graver threats and greater threats than that: From a rising India, with increased exercise of military power'.
Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor has arrived in Washington on a week-long visit to the United States, during which he is expected to hold discussions with top US military leadership on a wide range of bilateral issues, besides the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. General Kapoor is scheduled to meet Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, his counterpart in the US Army General George W Casey and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
Amidst a war of words between the two countries, the US came out in defence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai calling him a valuable partner and said American officials need to be sensitive while making comments on the war-torn country. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said General Stanley McChrystal, who is the head of US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation-led troops in Afghanistan, had excellent relations with the Afghan President.
The United States on Friday said that Pakistani leaders must take action against rapidly expanding Taliban militants who now pose an 'existential threat' to Islamabad. "I think that some of the leaders certainly understand that (threat posed by the Taliban), but it is important that they not only recognise it but take the appropriate actions to deal with it," United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates told reporters during his visit to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
The US on Wednesday pressed for early conclusion of the controversial Logistics Support Agreement as the two sides were close to signing two pacts on guaranteeing that US weapons supplied to India will not end up with third countries.
The US made it clear on Wednesday that India's patience would be "limited" if it faces a Mumbai-type attack again, as it warned that Lashkar-e-Tayiba was working in league with the Al Qaeda to destabilise the region and provoke an Indo-Pak military confrontation.
'We are writing to request that you join us in signing the attached letter that we are sending to Secretary (Robert) Gates regarding a fundamental issue of fairness, justice, and religious freedom: the right of Sikh Americans to abide by their religious articles of faith while serving in the United States Armed Forces,' wrote Congressmen Rodney Frelinghuysen and Carolyn Maloney in a 'dear colleague' letter.
The United States has announced the appointment of a new commander of its forces in Afghanistan as it now starts sending an additional 21,000 troops to this war-torn country to fight against the Taliban and the Al Qaeda. "McKiernan was asked to resign," Gates told reporters at a Pentagon press conference. Both the White House and the Defense Department said the changes in the top US military leadership has been taken in view of US President Barack Obaama's new Af-Pak policy.
The likely US offer of the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier and its acceptance by India will torpedo the friendship between India and Russia, reports on Tuesday said.
The motion, made at the instance of Obama and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is expected to be considered early on Wednesday local time by the military judge hearing into the case against five men charged in 9/11 terror attacks and against Omar Khadr, a Canadian who is accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in 2002
If rumours about a US decision to offer the Kitty Hawk to India are true, the move clearly is designed to block the sale of the Gorshkov, says a think tank.
All major terrorist networks have a safe haven in Pakistan to operate, creating a big "problem" to the United States' war against terror, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said.
The defence secretary, however, said the US would not be looking to add significant numbers of US forces to run operations in Pakistan.
The United States has sent its top defence official to India to find out the culprit behind the Mumbai terror attacks that had claimed over 200 lives, including Americans, last week.Defence Secretary Robert Gates has confirmed that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen is on his way to India or already there."But the truth is most of the people who were killed were Indians. And so it's important that we find out who did it," he said.
The government has given the nod for the purchase of six C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft at an estimated cost of Rs 4,000 crore from the US.
When MasterChef India judges Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar and Pooja Dhingra start talking, you can be sure it will be a masaledaar conversation.
Germany expects 2.7 million people to attend matches in stadiums across the country and some 12 million in its fan zones for outdoor viewing, including on a long stretch of turf laid out in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
Making a distinction between some violent extremist groups and others is counterproductive, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday told Pakistan that the Taliban's safe havens along the Af-Pak border have to be eliminated or both nations would suffer "more lethal and brazen attacks".
Karim Benzema's seven-minute hattrick saw Real Madrid thrash Real Valladolid 6-0 in their La Liga encounter
'It's pretty likely that Kissinger, Rice et al came bearing gifts (read Trojan Horses) from McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, Grumman, Northrop, and all the other Military Industrial Complex stalwarts,' argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
Would Ukraine be such a pushover if it had that nuclear stockpile?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Sutherland was watching the match between South Africa and Australian in his Melbourne home but turned off the television before images of Cameron Bancroft using a foreign object to alter the condition of the ball appeared on the screen.
A pick of just 10 watchable (a couple of them admittedly in the so-bad-it's-fun category) foreign films starring Bollywood stars in significant roles are available to watch on streaming platforms.
'With Punjab and Kashmir in flames, it would not have been politically wise to alienate the West.' 'It would have inclined Western countries towards Pakistan.' 'It would have been a self-goal.'
Cornered over charges of dubious funding of party president Nitin Gadkari's Purti Group, the Bharatiya Janata Party Wednesday hit out at ruling Congress asking why no action is being taken against Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vardra in land deals and the prime minister in the coal allocation scam.
Barack Obama has said that he had ruled out involving Pakistan in the raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout because it was an "open secret" that certain elements inside Pakistan's military, and especially its intelligence services, maintained links to the Taliban and perhaps even al-Qaeda, sometimes using them as strategic assets against Afghanistan and India.
The Royal Observatory Greenwich shortlisted 34 images for its Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2023 competition from thousands of entries received from all over the world.
The only thing that may salvage Narendra Modi's trip to the US is his meetings with CEOs, such as those of Blackstone, First Solar, Qualcomm, Adobe, and General Atomics, asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
The United States decided not to inform Pakistan about its top-secret mission to kill Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad as it knew that elements in spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence maintained close ties with the al Qaeda and the Taliban, according to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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