A powerful senatorial committee on Wednesday is set to consider a bipartisan resolution to recognise Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, pushing back against China's military aggression to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control.
The US Senate confirmed Garcetti's nomination earlier this month, ending a protracted hiatus of over two years to fill the key diplomatic position.
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications (NSCCSC) John Kirby on Tuesday told a press conference in Washington, DC: "India will be a critical strategic partner for the United States in the coming decades."
Describing India as an important member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) and a crucial partner for stability in the Indo-Pacific, the letter said that the lawmakers support the deepening strategic partnership between the two countries.
India on Sunday signed three agreements with the US for developing smart cities in Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam, with the government saying that the agreements would make significant contribution to building such cities in the country.
'Never expected, and never in history, not a single country has extended that kind of assistance'
New Delhi remains a priggish suitor to Washington's overtures, but it has begun appreciating potential tech benefits to ties with the US.
Raising pro-Khalistan slogans, the protesters on Sunday broke open the makeshift security barriers raised by the city police and installed two so-called Khalistan flags inside the Consulate premises. Two consulate personnel soon removed these flags.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the Opposition is pretty well united and a lot of good work is happening on the ground as he asserted that there is a hidden undercurrent building and it will 'surprise' the people in the next general elections.
'With Trump, the relationship was very transactional, whereas with President Biden it is very structured.'
United States Deputy Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter, who arrived in India on a two-day visit on Monday, has masterminded a proposal that could dramatically boost US-India defence relations.
India, along with Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, is expected to sustain growth in the medium-term in Asia region, replacing China as the key growth driver, Morgan Stanley and Nomura said in two separate reports released on Monday. While Morgan Stanley projected a 6.2 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for India in FY24, Nomura estimated the Indian economy to grow at 5.9 per cent in 2023. "Even with a slowing China, we expect GDP growth in Asia to sustainably outperform other emerging markets and the US. India and Southeast Asia are set to be the fastest-growing economies this decade.
Indian billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Anand Mahindra, Apple CEO Tim Cook and corporate leader Indira Nooyi were among the guests. CEOs of Google, Microsoft and Adobe -- Sunder Pichai, Satya Nadella and Shantanu Narayen -- also attended the event.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Friday to attend the annual summit of the G7 grouping and the third in-person Quad leaders' meeting during which he will exchange views with world leaders on global challenges and discuss ways to collectively address them.
Speaking at a summit organised by the US-India Business Council in Washington DC, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed for stronger economic and diplomatic ties between the United States and India.
'For the first time since I've been following Indian politics, one heard voters talking about India's role on the world stage and the fact that, due to Modi's leadership, India was once again a great power.'
On a mission to cool soaring bilateral tensions, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday held extensive talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on a range of issues, including the Taiwan issue and the Ukraine war.
"This is something to be proud of," said Raj Panjabi, who is currently serving as Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefence on the White House National Security Council.
In perhaps what could be his swansong appearance as the Obama administration's point man for South Asia, Robert Blake has acknowledged that the impasse over the implementation of the US-India civilian nuclear deal poses many challenges to Washington and New Delhi.
'No Cold War should be reignited and no Ukraine-style crisis should be repeated in Asia'
Amid mass layoffs in the tech sector, the federal agency for immigration services has said it is wrong to assume that sacked workers holding the much-sought-after H-1B visas have to leave the country within 60 days, asserting they have multiple options to stay in the US. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
He also said that it is more than a relationship between the two countries.
Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council, has said that the top priority on his organisation's wish list for the Obama Administration is that "we are intent on seeing a bilateral investment treaty executed between our countries."
Describing the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to America as a "watershed moment" in bilateral ties, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has said that this week will be one of those moments that can change the course of history as the two democracies get together for peace and prosperity.
As India and the United States are set to begin negotiations on two transformational deals -- Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) and Reciprocal Defence Procurement Agreement (RDP) -- the Pentagon has said that the defence industries of the two nations will come together once the negotiations conclude.
Chanting slogans of "Modi Modi" and India-US friendship, Indian Americans walked in a procession for over an hour towards the historic Lincoln Memorial where the participants busted into an impromptu dance.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Oil producers cartel OPEC's share in India's oil imports fell to an all-time low of 46 per cent in April as purchases of cheaper Russian oil peaked, industry data showed. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations, mainly in the Middle East and Africa, had a 72 per cent share of all crude oil India imported in April 2022. This share slid to 46 per cent in April 2023, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa.
'And if the United States, at that time, perceives India to have welched on the deal, not been our friend, when we did so much to make it a friend, that's trouble.'
The resolution condemns additional Chinese provocations, including China's use of military force to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, construction of villages in contested areas, publication of maps with Mandarin-language names for cities and features in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, and expansion of Beijing's territorial claims in Bhutan.
Prime Minister Modi will embark on his first state visit to the United States at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden in June.
Strobe Talbott, former United States deputy secretary of state who laid the foundation for better US-India ties, on how they can be taken higher.
India needs a helping hand and the country best placed to provide it, in every way, military, political and economic, is the US, says Premvir Das.
Announcing the hotline, the Chinese defence ministry said as agreed upon by the defence departments of China and Japan, the two sides have recently completed the construction of a direct telephone line for the sea and air liaison mechanism and will maintain communication on the arrangement for the launch.
The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also recommended to the Congress to raise the issue of religious freedom during US-India bilateral meetings, and hold hearings on it.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the upcoming visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India.
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.
'The prime minister is talking to his Chachaji and he is crying in the PM's lap, it was such an emotional scene.'
It is time for the US to reposition its foreign policy.
