A bipartisan group of US lawmakers comprising erstwhile and current co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans have circulated a letter among their colleagues expressing their strong support for the US-India civilian nuclear agreement and included in their 'Dear Colleague' letter a copy of the September 12 Washington Post editorial titled 'Yes for an Answer: Why Congress should expedite approval of the US-India nuclear accord."
With the Bush administration pushing hard for a quick Congressional nod for the landmark India-United States civil nuclear agreement, a small group of senior Democratic lawmakers have demanded the detailed examination of the pact.The three-person group led by Massachussetts Congressman Edward Markey has said that there are many lingering questions about the deal that require further examination and hence the Congress should rule out any rush for an expedited vote.
American Vice President-elect Joseph Biden will travel to Pakistan this week to defuse regional tensions in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, according to a media report.
Voted to power with an absolute majority for the first time in nearly three decades, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, considered as an able administrator, promises "a fresh engagement" with the United States, a latest Congressional report has said.
Film director Amar Kaleka, the son of the gurdwara president who was killed in a 'supremacist' shootout last year in Wisconsin, is planning to challenge US Republican Paul Ryan in the 2014 congressional election, agencies report.
Director of US National Intelligence said that Islamabad's failure to curb terrorists and the rise in number of cross-firing incidents was the cause for increasing tensions.
American auto industry's Big Three appear close to securing a bailout, with Wall Street Journal reporting that the White House and top Democrats have agreed in-principle for a $15 billion rescue plan -- less than half the amount sought by GM, Ford and Chrysler.
Modi told the delegation that urgent action was needed against those supporting and sponsoring terrorism.
Forty-eight-year-old Verma, who played a quiet but key role in deepening Indo-US ties, will quit before the president-elect assumes charge as his team said the envoys, who are political appointees, will not be given any "grace period" beyond Trump's inauguration day.
Congressman Joseph Crowley, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives and the former chair of the Caucus on India and Indian Americans, has condemned the terror attack on Mumbai.
Noted yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who recently laid the foundation stone for a $20 million yoga and ayurveda research centre in Houston, has been invited by US Congressmen to display his yogic excercises before them. Congressman Nick Lampson, who attended Ramdev's five-day yoga camp held in Houston, invited him to Washington DC.
So far, neither Washington nor Wall Street seems to have fully grasped this political sea-change, or figured how to deal with it.
Prez says that India has not assured the United States that it will provide 'equitable and reasonable access to its markets'.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services would accept petitions for the H-1B work visas on the first five working days beginning April 1.
The proclamation by Congressman Nick Lampson from Texas praised the musical genius of Dr Balamuralikrishna and his multi-faceted contribution to Indian classical music, describing him as a 'legend.'
In yet another sign of deepening relationship between India and the United States, the Friends of Indian Caucus in the US Senate is holding a rare Congressional reception for the new Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar.
Forex dealers said besides dollar's gains against other currencies overseas, increased demand from oil importers for the US currency put pressure on the rupee.
Obama's winning will underscore that in America anything is possible. My hope is that young Indian Americans will see Obama and say, 'I can go into public service as well'. My hope is that Obama will inspire Indian Americans to see politics as something noble, as something that can make a difference in people's lives, says Ro Khanna
With its gaze steadily fixed on the well-being of its people, the government is going about taking all the imperative measures that need to be taken to beat back the pandemic, observes B S Raghavan.
Pelosi's appointment comes at a time when a standoff with regards to the United States-Mexico border wall has snowballed into a partial government shutdown.
Rahul 'Richard' Verma has been appointed to the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. Verma, a partner with the international law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP, based in Washington, DC, was until recently the high-ranking Indian-American Congressional aide on Capitol Hill.
India on Friday said it was confident of the passage of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal as it enjoyed bipartisan support among lawmakers, assuring that American firms would not be put at a disadvantage even if there is delay in getting a Congressional nod for the accord.
Dandekar is a former Iowa legislator representing the Marion area in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009 and in the Iowa Senate from 2009 to 2011.
The crucial civil nuclear cooperation will be high on the agenda of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his 10-day visit to the United States and France, which begins on Monday.The prime minister will attend the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, where he would pitch for collective and multilateral approaches to deal with global challenges like food and energy crises and terrorism.
An influential US lawmaker, who heads the Congressional Committee that has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the subcontinent, has warned that South Asia poses the greatest terrorist threat to the United States. Congressman Gary L Ackerman, New York Democrat, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, declared, "South Asia is arguably the place from which America faces the greatest terrorist threat."
America's nuclear fuel supply assurances to India are a "political commitment" and the government cannot "legally compel" US firms to sell a "given product" to New Delhi, top officials told a Congressional panel as the administration worked hard to push the Indo-US deal through the Congress before September 26.
'It doesn't look as if any sensible, worldly wise, person is in charge in China.' 'If at all anybody is in charge, it can only be a bunch of bumpkins of whom Xi has become a puppet,' observes B S Raghavan, the veteran civil servant.
Ackerman and many of his colleagues on Capitol Hill have for long questioned the rationale of giving the F-16s to Pakistan as a part of the war on terror. The congressmen now want a comprehensive statement from senior officials about the complete scope of the F-16 programme with Pakistan that include the number of planes, updates made to existing planes, proposed armaments, schedule of delivery and source of payment.
The administration is leaving no stone unturned as it races against time to have the US-India civilian nuclear agreement completed by the Congressional adjournment date of September 26 even if indications are there that the lawmakers may return for a Lame-Duck Session after the November 4 presidential elections.
'The Bush administration, through a gag order on its written responses to Congressional questions, had sought to keep the Indian public in the dark on the larger implications of the nuclear deal, lest the accord run into rougher weather. But now its 26 pages of written answers have been publicly released by a senior United States Congressman.'
Trump also attacks Russia uranium deal, calling it 'modern-day Watergate'.
There's a strong sense inside the Democratic leadership that if you care about India, now is the time to stand up for it, says Graham Wisner, counsel at the top international lobbying firm Patton Boggs.
United States Congressman Jim McDermott has introduced major new legislation to, in his words, "unite the two great democracies of India and the United States together in development of new and renewable energy supplies". The legislation seeks to establish a Congressional Commission on Renewable Power Technology Commerce with India to study methods for improving and promoting bilateral renewable energy cooperation with India.
"Every country, whether it be India, United States, other country, could be potentially part of this small network of countries where terrorists can obtain material or expertise," said a senior US official.
Even before the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement gets a nod from the Nuclear Supplier's Group, a hint of the US Congressional opposition has surfaced, in the form of a salvo fired by Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.Berman, a California Democrat, was the author of several 'killer amendments' to the enabling Hyde Act when it was debated and voted on the floor in 2006, all of which were defeated.
Continued instability in Pakistan could impact safety of its nuclear weapons and materials, a latest US Congressional report has said as it described the sale of two nuclear reactors by China to Pakistan a violation of the NSG guidelines.
This provides for H-1B extensions beyond the 6-year limit.
Congressman Jim McDermott, who represents Washington state -- who incidentally voted against the enabling legislation also known as the Hyde Act two years ago -- said, "The likelihood of Congress taking up the nuclear issue again before the end of the year is, it will be very difficult."
'Taranjit has the ideal temperament to deal with the Americans who understand firmness and appreciate flexibility.' 'He can hold his ground with a cheerful face and still make it clear that India and the US are partners, rivals,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'It certainly doesn't have to be accomplished at the end of the year. It will not turn into a pumpkin after some days! The next president and next Congress can take this up,' says expert K Alan Kronstadt.
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