In a major positive development for the Indo-US nuclear agreement, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the deal, paving the way for its entry into the full Senate. The lawmakers in the crucial Senate panel adopted the agreement by a vote of 19-2.
Accompanying Sergio Gor at the tables on Saturday night was his buddy Jeanine Pirro, currently the United States attorney for the District of Columbia.
United States President Donald Trump has backed a sanctions bill that could impose 500 per cent tariffs on countries buying Russian oil, giving the White House leverage against countries like China and India to stop them from purchasing cheap oil from Moscow.
Trump announced that India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington will charge a reduced reciprocal tariff on Delhi, lowering it from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen's comments came amid a major downturn between New Delhi and Washington after US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 percent, including a 25 percent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.
Gor, 38, was among 107 nominees confirmed by the Senate in a single en bloc vote on Tuesday, with 51 senators voting in favour and 47 against.
A statement issued by State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Landau "reaffirmed the United States' strong support of India in the fight against terrorism and the strategic partnership between the two countries".
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday (local time) hailed India as 'one of the top relationships that the US has in the world today' during the Senate confirmation hearing for Sergio Gor, US President Donald Trump's nominee for US Ambassador to India.
Gor underlined that President Trump has a "deep friendship" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that is something that is unique.
The US appears to be using the Indo-US nuclear deal as a vehicle to facilitate a formal entry for the US National Nuclear Security Administration, widely suspected to be involved in a variety of covert nuclear interventions, into India
A powerful senatorial committee on Wednesday is set to consider a bipartisan resolution to recognise Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, pushing back against China's military aggression to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control.
The fact that Gor has President Trump's ear makes him an extremely valuable commodity for India -- he represents both a challenge and an opportunity, points out Aditi Phadnis.
'If, God forbid, India decided it was in its interests to reach a more robust military agreement with Iran, that would be enough to ruin the [India-US] relationship.
The political and ideological differences between the Congress and Shashi Tharoor is no longer a matter of whispers.
American Senator John F Kerry, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who just returned from a trip to Afghanistan after twisting Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's arm to acquiesce to hold a run-off election after charges of massive fraud and corruption were uncovered in the recent election, has warned that Pakistan could become the epicenter of terrorism in the world, since it is now the headquarters of the Al Qaeda.
The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan were among the various issues that came up for discussion as ranking United States Senator John Kerry on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. Kerry, Chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was on a day-long visit to India. Singh and Kerry took stock of the bilateral relations and prospects of taking these forward. In the regional context, the two discussed the situation in Afghan and Pak.
The committee adopted the measure by 12-9 vote with one Republican, Senator Chuck Hagel, breaking ranks to join the 11 Democrats on the panel in approving the resolution.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-1 to clear the 61-year-old former first lady's nomination as the top diplomat of the country.
Two prominent US Senators on Monday said Pakistan's beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf should look for a "graceful exit" instead of being forced out of power in the wake of parliamentary election results in which opposition parties scored stunning victories.
Marking a historic trip to Myanmar, a senior United States lawmaker on Saturday met pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi as well as the country's military ruler Than Shew and secured the release of an American, who had been jailed for secretly visiting the residence of the detained leader. Democrat Senator Jim Webb became the first senior US official to meet the reclusive Myanmar general in the capital Naypyidaw.
The US Senate has unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution introduced by Senators Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat and George Voinovich, Ohio Republican -- both members of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- condemning the terrorists attacks in Mumbai and applauding India's restraint so far as it investigates the attacks.
The White House on Wednesday stood behind Eric Garcetti asserting he is qualified to serve as United States Ambassador to India, even as a Congressional committee vote on his nomination was postponed till March 8 after a Republican Senator placed a hold on his nomination.
Paving the way for India and the United States to work together in enhancing global energy security, the Senate on Tuesday unanimously cleared a Bill seeking the diversification of sources of energy and stimulating development of alternative fuels.
Pakistan is bigger than Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Korea combined. There's 156 million people. They have 24 to 55 nuclear weapons. They have not only the bomb, the thermonuclear device, they have the missile that can couple with the bomb, and it can fly all the way to the Mediterranean.
Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in the United States, the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee under a revised schedule on Tuesday, formally put the US-India civilian nuclear agreement on its agenda and approved it by a margin of 19-2.
Ties between Pakistan's ISI and Taliban remain troubling for the United States and this relationship should be "fixed", a top US senator has said.
The Syria war resolution drafted by members of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee permits up to 60 days of military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime and does not permit any boots on the ground, Congressional aides said.
Senator Lugar's statement on N-deal bill
'While the President has been critical of India, he has gone out of his way to compliment PM Modi. They have an incredible relationship.'
'There is simply too much bringing us together,' says nuclear proliferation expert Leonard Spector.
Speaking at a hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee, Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said: "There are mixed signals here that are very, very troubling and that the United States needs to be able to have alternatives for carrying out its foreign policy in that region."
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