Robert Blake says the United States wants to partner India on a range of global 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 theme for this years conference is 'India: Gaining Momentum'.
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.
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.
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.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus enjoys great respect in the US for all of his work to help the poor in Bangladesh.
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 feels that Kashmir issue won't be part of the agenda during talks between foreign ministers of India and Pakistan next month as the meeting will focus mainly on action against terrorism and the progress Islamabad has made into the Mumbai attacks probe.
"It is important that they feel that they're going to be able to live a future of hope and of opportunity, that the internally displaced people that are now in camps -- there are still approximately 100,000 of them -- that they be allowed to go back to their homes," US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake said.
The Obama administration's point man for South Asia, Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake has assured that there will be deliverables from the first US-India Strategic Dialogue that will be held in Washington, DC, on June 2-3.
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.
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.
The United States has said it is working with India to find a political solution in Sri Lanka now that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam "is now flat on its back having lost most of its leaders," but has no intention of putting pressure on New Delhi to change its policy toward Sri Lanka, which has been perceived by some Tamils to be favoring the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Ambassador Robert Blake, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, on Tuesday said that the Indo-Pakistan ties would improve if the suspects of the Mumbai attack are tried and convicted by Islamabad.
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.
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.
The historic Indo-United States civilian nuclear agreement is on the right track, even as New Delhi has to complete a few formalities in this regard, said a top US diplomat. "It (nuke deal) is going very well, Senator. There are still a couple of steps that the Indians have to take to fully implement that agreement," Ambassador Robert Blake, the Obama nominee for the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, said.
Robert O Blake, the new Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, making his debut before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday, said Secretary of State Hillary's Clinton's trip to India next month will be a tangible manifestation of the Obama Administration's commitment to take the Indo-US relationship to the next level.
United States President Barack Obama has nominated Nisha Desai Biswal as the new assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs.
The US Senate has confirmed Indian-American woman administrator Nisha Desai Biswal as the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, making her the first person from the community to hold the top diplomatic position.
'You'll see during the course of this visit, we'll have some important deliverables to announce in the area of energy and climate change,' US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O Blake on the prime minister's journey to Washington, DC next week.
The Obama administration has rationalised India's abstention on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 last month, calling for a no-fly zone in strife-torn Libya, as based on part misinformation and part going along with its Brazil, Russia, and China partners.
The Obama administration has expressed its deep disappointment with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse for relegating the devolution of power in the Tamil majority areas, in the country's northern province, to the back-burner. The international community had urged the Lankan government to put the motion in process after crushing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
United States President Barack Obama has nominated US ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert O Blake, who has also served as the Deputy Chief of US Mission in New Delhi, as the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs. If approved by the US Senate, Blake would replace Richard Boucher, who is currently Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. However, the communique did not mention Central Asia being part of Blake's portfolio.
Puneet Talwar, one of the most respected Middle East policy specialists in administration and Congressional circles, has been nominated by United States President Barack Obama to a senior State Department position.
The United States apparently is always looking over its shoulder vis-a-vis China, conscious that its envisaged strategic partnership with India and its trilateral partnerships in East Asia and the Pacific -- with India and Japan and India and Australia respectively -- are not construed as ostensible encirclement of Beijing.
A top Obama administration official on Thursday said that though some progress is being made in the implementation of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, it is going to be a long and tough road to work through the issues related to India's nuclear liability law.
Foreign Service Officer Robert Orris Blake, Jr, who is currently the United States' Ambassador to Sri Lanka, before which he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in New Delhi from 2003 to 2006, is the top contender for the post of the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, currently held by diplomat Richard Boucher.
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