Sending encouraging signal to the rest of the world, a bipartisan group of powerful US Senators on Friday agreed on a framework for a climate change bill.
Asserting that the Pune's German Bakery blast should not derail the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, one of the key aides of President Barack Obama, Senator John Kerry has said that Washington is ready to assist both countries, and that the long-pending Kashmir issue should not be a 'prerequisite' in the initial conversation.
Munter, confirmed by the US Senate last week, would replace Anne Paterson in Islamabad.
The rise of BRIC countries represents a fundamental shift in global economy and the developing world needs a legitimate seat at the table so that shared challenges are better addressed, a powerful US Senator has said.
United States Senator John F Kerry -- President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next Secretary of State -- has asserted that he would be strongly opposed to any cuts in America's considerable aid to Islamabad.
'If that occurs, the world will be safer,' says Senator Joseph Biden.
Diplomatic observers and foreign policy wonks were left perplexed trying to figure out what Senator John F Kerry meant when he said India had begun "to reinvigorate its own programme there", which he described as "absurd on both sides".
The United States embassy in New Delhi has informed US Senator Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is not eligible to receive a diplomatic visa. Aziz Haniffa reports.
Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said "India's rhetoric was as strident as we ever heard China's, so we need to build a climate partnership with India, too; working from the same principles, but respecting the massive differences."
Nancy Powell, being the quintessential diplomat, and attempting to be as circumspect as possible, replied, "Iran and India have a long tradition of trade across energy and other fields. It is one that is clearly a part of our sanctions regime, that we are hoping to see it significantly reduced."
The India-United States relationship has still not reached its full potential, though the two countries have developed steadily closer ties built on a uniquely strong foundation, according to powerful Senator Richard Lugar, a key supporter of the civil nuclear deal between the two sides. "The remarkable deepening of US-India ties over the past decade is only a start, as the relationship has still not reached its full potential," Lugar, ranking Republican.
"In terms of India, in terms of South Asia, you cannot find a more knowledgeable person than Joe Biden. And indeed, right now, the Biden-Lugar legislation on Pakistan is the most important piece of legislation in terms of foreign policy on the Hill. It's trying to reorient our foreign policy toward that country to make it more comprehensive -- not just one that was individual-based and transactional as it was before."
Pakistan has moved one step closer to receiving massive American economic and military largesse -- reminiscent of the billions of dollars it received during the Reagan and George W Bush Administrations when military dictators Mohammad Zia-ul Haq and Pervez Musharraf respectively were in charge -- to the tune of $1.5 billion annually over five years, when the Senate-Lugar aid bill steamrolled through the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee by a vote of 16-0.
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 international community must be clear that such a behaviour is unacceptable, a top US senator said.
An influential American Senator has said that in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, the most important bond between the United States and India is their 'unity in the face of extremism'.Republican Senator George V Voinovich, a ranking member of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also lauded India's restraint vis--vis taking action against Pakistan.But he cautioned that this should not mean that Pakistan has been 'given a free pass'.
'As America's second post-9/11 President takes office, a single country has become ground zero for the terrorist threat we face,' Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in an opinion piece published in The Washington Times.
Egged on by more than 160 venture capitalists, including several Indian Americans, US Senators John F Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat and Richard Lugar, Indiana Republican, have introduced a legislation to create jobs in America and increasing America's global competitiveness by helping immigrant entrepreneurs obtain visas to the United States.
India is centrally important for America's success in the Af-Pak region, according to Richard Holbrooke, special United States representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan. "I want to be sure that everyone here recognises how centrally important India will be to this (the US success in Afghanistan and Pakistan)," he told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan convened by the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
With Pakistan seeking more international aid following the devastating floods, the Obama Administration and key Congressional leaders are now considering allocating more money under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill that allocated US $ 7.5 billion to Islamabad.
Ruling out sending American troops to Pakistan to assist the country's offensive against Taliban, Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee today said Islamabad would have to develop a "homegrown" policy to fight extremists.
As the United States Senate prepared for a crucial hearing on the Indo-US nuclear deal, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the midst of another round of hectic lobbying with key lawmakers to secure Congress' approval of the pact before its session ends on September 26. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee' hearing later on Tuesday is seen as a positive sign in getting the endorsement of the Senate for the nuke deal.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday offered to enhance cooperation with India in the field of intelligence to avert attacks like the Pune blast that could 'further the agenda of terrorists' who were holding the bilateral ties 'hostage.'
Powerful United States senator John Kerry asked Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to present before India Pakistan's plan of action for fighting terrorism if it was "really serious" in resuming Indo-Pak dialogue, but the Premier expressed concern that the public would not support the idea.
The US stepped up pressure on Pakistan to get access to disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, accused of proliferating nuke technologies to Iran and North Korea, for questioning.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, known for fiery retorts against the US, welcomed Biden's first moves to join the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was trashed by Trump as a puppet of China over its conduct to deal with the COVID-19.
"We have been very clear with the Indians, should India test, as it has agreed not to do, or should India in any way violate the IAEA safeguards agreements to which it would be adhering, the deal, from our point of view, would, at that point, be off," Burns pointed out.
The United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify before key Congressional committees on January 22, on the deadly militant attack on a US Consulate in Benghazi, in which the US Ambassador to Libya and three other American were killed.
The New York Times report that Pakistan illegally modified the Harpoon anti-ship missile provided by the United States apparently to bolster its conventional weaponry against India, has embarrassed the Obama administration and Senators John F Kerry and Richard Lugarjust as Washington is poised to provide Islamabad with a massive economic and military largesse of $ 7.5 billion over five years
Berman's bill -- which is in all respects similar to the Senate Committee's Bill that the government of India has found objectionable and offensive -- contains the additional proviso that in the event of a nuclear test by India, which leads to the automatic termination of the deal, the presidential waiver of this termination could be limited.
The United States looks forward to enhancing strategic partnership with India and is likely to make some announcements on it 'fairly soon'. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in his confirmation hearing, Robert Blake told American Senators that Obama is committed to strengthening the existing strategic partnership between the two countries. "President Obama has said that the United States sees India as a global power," he said.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has acknowledged that even with a firewall that has been constructed against the diversion of massive American military aid to Pakistan to the nuclear weapons programme, there are no ironclad guarantees that aid cannot be diverted and hence it remains a major concern to the US. Clinton was appearing before the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee to defend the Obama administration's foreign aid budget for the fiscal year
This would make him the highest-ranking Indian American ever in the US Department of State. Over a month ago, Verma was appointed as one of the leads of the Agency Review Team overseeing the US Department of Defence for President-elect Barack Obama's Transition.
United States vice president-elect Joe Biden will lead a bipartisan Congressional delegation on a visit to Southwest Asia before he takes office alongside Barack Obama on January 20. For security reasons, details of the trip and the countries to be visited have not been released. Biden would be accompanied by Senator John Kerry, the former Democratic Presidential candidate and the incoming Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
President Barack Obama has sent the report on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal to the US Congress, the White House said on Friday.
President Barack Obama has sent the report on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal to the US Congress, the White House said today.
