Applauding India as a "responsible steward" of atomic power, the US has said it looked forward to "trying to complete" the civilian nuclear deal this year so as to bring New Delhi to the "mainstream".
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.
Rice's concerns were over the bills in their current form. India believed this was a case of 'moving the goal-posts.'
'Five months after the elections in February 2024, the Pakistan army has not been able to break Imran Khan's resolve and break his political party.'
"The question of India-Pakistan relations is one that... they have actually made great strides forward in the last couple of years. And obviously, the tensions created by the Mumbai incident made that more difficult right now,"Richard Boucher, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, has said those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks have links in Pakistan. "I would say it's clear that they had links in Pakistan, that the attackers had links that lead to Pakistani soil" Boucher said in Islamabad on Monday, according to transcripts released by State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
Statements of Assistant Secretary of State For South and Central Asian Affairs Richard A Boucher, Congressmen Tom Lantos and Gary Ackerman on F-16 sale to Pak.
"Some of the fears are exaggerated," and added, "some of the training turns out to be sort of cadet level. Some exchanges don't lead to a lot. I think we just need to have a realistic sense of what this is," Boucher added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that developing close relations with India's neighbours is a key priority of his government, ahead of his planned visit to Kathmandu on Tuesday afternoon to attend the 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Summit.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday left on a four-day visit to Maldives during which he will attend the SAARC Summit and have a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
There are a lot of things that go on up there that are difficult to find out. On the other hand, we do have a pretty good idea what's going on up there, whose up there and what they're doing, Boucher said.
The US has emphasised that Pakistan has still "lot to do" in combating the menace of terrorism and the immediate focus should be on groups responsible for the ghastly Mumbai terror attacks.
"I think the steps that we've seen Pakistan take are good steps. They're promising steps. We hope they get followed up," Assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said in Beijing last week, according to a transcript released today by the State Department.
The United States has said enhancing economic ties with India will create thousands of jobs for Americans, as against the general impression about the US jobs being outsourced to the South Asian country.
Describing India as a "rising world power", US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher on Friday emphasised the need to fight the global menace of terrorism "jointly".
'There's no wonder that many Pakistani parents send their kids to madrasa and one knows what happens to a small percentage of the kids who go there.
The Chinese state media on Tuesday labelled India as a spoiled, smug, self-centered, self-righteous nation after Beijing faced massive criticism for blocking New Delhi's bid for membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
The nation has been put on high alert following intelligence inputs that Pakistan-based terrorists, who are against any thaw in Indo-Pak relations, may strike in a desperate bid to derail the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation meeting in Islamabad.Sources said the advisory issued by the ministry of home affairs has asked all states to maintain increased vigil and take precautionary measures to ensure security.
Veteran Pakistani diplomats Syed Ibne Abbas and Jalil Abbas Jilani would be the new Pakistani envoys to India and the United States respectively as part of a wide-ranging reshuffle of envoys in key capitals around the world.
He also reiterated India's strong support in the fight against terrorism with Sri Lanka, which saw the country's worst terror attack on Easter Sunday.
Meetings of SAARC foreign ministers and foreign secretaries will precede the summit.
Encouraged by the possibility of talks between India and Pakistan, the Obama administration has said the two south Asian neighbours share a number of important interests -- from tackling terrorism to encouraging trade.
In the face of the Left opposition, the Bush administration has refused to set a timeline for moving the Indo-US nuclear deal forward, saying it will start work towards operationalising the agreement when New Delhi is ready.
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed on Tuesday met Bangladesh Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan to discuss bilateral and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation matters.
Amid the dispute between India and China over exploration in South China Sea, the United States on Tuesday said the laws of the seas should apply and issues should be addressed through dialogue.
The relationship between New Delhi and Tehran has caused some concern on Capitol Hill.
India on Friday strongly protested China's decision to issue invalid visas to some of its athletes for the Asian Games.
Dhaka is not in favour of full membership to Afghanistan and instead supports observer status to it, informed sources said.
Although Afghanistan will be formally inducted as the eighth member of SAARC on Tuesday, Afghan Foreign Minister Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta also attended the meet.
Jaishankar was among the first ministers to arrive for the SAARC ministerial meeting. He was in the meeting for over 45 minutes and then left.
'Thirteen years have passed since the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai. On today's anniversary, we remember the victims, including six Americans, and the resiliency of Mumbaikars. It is long overdue for the perpetrators to face justice,' Blinken said in a tweet on Friday.
'Our relationship with India exists on its own merits, and is independent of our relationship with Pakistan,' President Bush tells rediff.com in his first interview to any South Asian media outlet.
'The deepening of China-Nepal relations need not cause heartburn in India,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India has airlifted more than 6 million COVID-19 doses to nine countries in Phase-I under its initiative termed "Vaccine Maitri".
In a phased and planned manner the countries will go for Free Trade Areas, a Customs Union, a Common Market, and a Common Economic and Monetary Union.
'Global trade is vital to the success of our economy and job creation. We need to continue to expand trade and work to open markets for American goods and services,' President Bush tells Aziz Haniffa in the final part of an exclusive interview.
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com -- his first with any South Asian media organisation -- President Bush \n\nlauded India for being "an outstanding partner in the global war on terror."
Jockeys under 16 years of age will be banned from competing in camel races in the UAE with effect from March 31, 2005, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said.
