Asserting that there is no role for politics in disaster response, the Obama administration has said it expects Pakistan to accept the $ 5 million aid offer from India for its flood relief work.
Around 100 American nationals have been affected by the flash floods in Leh, the United Sttaes said, adding its embassy in New Delhi has dispatched a team to the region to provide them necessary help.
He admitted that some member countries of the 45-nation grouping have expressed concerns about the deal and 'we have talked to a lot of those various states'. "I am not going to name them, but we have talked to a lot of them. They have announced themselves publicly. You can look it up and what their concerns are," McCormack said.
"The US-India Global Issues Forum develops new and expanded areas for cooperation between the two countries on multilateral issues such as the promotion of democracy, health, environmental protection, and human rights," the State Department spokesman said in a statement.
"I don't think there's any change. There's no change in their status," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, commenting on the issue in the backdrop of a meeting between a top American envoy in Kathmandu Nancy Powell and Maoist leader Prachanda.
"They had a discussion about where we stand. We made it clear that we are fully prepared once the Indian government has taken certain steps to submit the agreements to the Congress so that they can be passed," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said when asked about the talks between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee earlier this week.
Newsweek magazine on Sunday apologised for and on Tuesday withdrew the report, which claimed that American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay detention centre abused the holy book, saying it might have erred in reporting the incident.
State department spokesman Richard Boucher said there are regulations that prevent US citizens from contributing to armed conflict.
The US has said it was encouraging forces working for a moderate Pakistan, besides helping the Islamic country check the violent extremists operating in its territory that were as much a threat to it as to its neighbours.
The Guantanamo detention centre has a major medical facility and a large airstrip both of which could be used in the coming days, State Department spokesman P J Crowley said. The major hospitals in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince have been damaged and the airport is being run by the US army on an emergency basis.
The US on Wednesday said the issue of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's plans to doff his uniform after re-election is a matter for the Pakistanis to work out within the "confines of their laws and Constitution."
Dismissing speculations that the India-United States nuclear agreement was 'dead', the Bush administration has said that Washington will continue to work towards making the landmark deal a reality. "We are still very supportive of the deal. We still would like to see it move forward, but the Indian government and the political system is engaged in a debate, and we'll see what the outcome out of that debate is," US States Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
But the Bush Administration assured that the changes will be within the framework of the Joint Statement.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called up Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah in a bid to douse the simmering tension between the two Afghan leaders and save the Unity government formed as a result of his intervention and mediation two years ago.
As for the decision of who fills what post, that's going to be up to the Pakistani government and ultimately the people to decide, the US said.
Asked about the anti-American demonstrations in Pakistan, US State Department spokeman Richard Boucher said: "Pakistanis and others certainly have the right to demonstrate and express their political beliefs."
The United States on Wednesday said that it would support India's effort in getting some of the steps cleared for the finalisation of the India-United States civil nuclear agreement, but those steps have to be taken by India first. "There are a number of different steps that will need to be taken in order to finally conclude all aspects of this agreement. It's up to India to go through some of those steps on their own," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
US avoids comment on Manmohan Singh's nuke statement in Parliament.
Undersecretary for Political Affairs R Nicholas Burns also spoke about the case yesterday during a joint news briefing with Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah in Washington.
The legislation on the civilian nuclear deal is to be structured in such a way that Congressmen feel comfortable about its language and then work through some other pending issues
India is "an anchor of stability" in the region and will have to play significant role at the international level, a top US official said on Wednesday.
The US, which backed President Pervez Musharraf for aiding the 'war on terror', on Friday said the decision to impeach the embattled leader is an "internal matter" of Pakistan, but must be "consistent with the rule of law and their constitution."
The US is reviewing the suggestion that the border security bill, that significantly increases visa fees of H1-B and L1 categories, was not WTO compliant, days after President Barack Obama signed it into law.
"I think we're aware right now of about 135 US citizens affected by the floods. We have no reports of deaths or injuries," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said. "As of Wednesday, I think there were still a handful of American citizens that we had not yet had contact with, so I would assume at this point that we have not accounted for everybody, but at this point we're not aware of anybody that has been killed or injured," Crowley said.
Holbrooke is currently in Afghanistan after completing a two-day visit to Pakistan. He is said to have told the Pakistani leadership during his visit that there was a need to keep India informed about developments taking place in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The two countries are aiming at sorting out differences particularly on issues like reprocessing right, perpetuity of fuel supplies and continuance of the civilian nuclear cooperation if India were to conduct an atomic test.
"I know that there were some press reports about whether or not he was going to be going this week or next week. I am not aware that he has any travel plans, at this point, to go to India," McCormack said.
The US has refused to be drawn into the latest uncertainty in Pakistan following Nawaz Sharif's decision to pull out PML-N ministers from the government and said political parties in the country will have to address the issues pertaining to coalition politics.
The Bush administration visualises a "qualitative change" in US-India relations in the wake of the civilian nuclear agreement between the two countries.
US working closely with Bangladesh in combating terrorism
"Whatever the solution is, certainly the people of the region need to have a voice in it, however the two sides choose to resolve it," McCormack added.
''In terms of the investigation itself by Scotland Yard, we view this as a credible investigation by independent, outside experts,'' State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. ''We don't have any reason why we would question the validity of their assessment,'' he added.
The meeting is being attended by United States, Japan, the European Union and Norway.
'The US calls on the LTTE to renounce terrorism and cease terrorist acts, including political assassination, and to comply with terms of the ceasefire agreement they signed,' state department spokesman Philip Reeker said.
Playing down the significance of a new nuclear reactor being built by Pakistan, the Bush administration has said the new facility will produce far less plutonium than was reported by an independent think tank.
We hope that the government of India will convey to Than Shwe during his visit concerns shared by the international community, said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
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