American Congressman Ed Royce, a ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the senior-most minority member on the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Nonproliferation, who was part of the Congressional leadership that met with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during his recent visit to Washington, is disappointed that the United States-India civilian nuclear deal wasn't completed to make it the signature highlight of the Obama-Singh summit.
Curtis, who was the lead panellist at a conference at The Brookings Institution titled, The US-India Nuclear Agreement: Expectations and Consequences,' said, "During the Bush Administration, US officials broke the habit of viewing India solely through the India-Pakistan lens. Washington developed a greater appreciation for the Indian democratic miracle and viewed our shared democratic principles as the bedrock for a broader strategic partnership."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Thursday said the unprecedented level of cooperation between the investigative agencies of India and the United States following the Mumbai strikes has strengthened Indo-US ties.
A group of top United States lawmakers have urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to release Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, who allegedly helped to track down Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Influential United States Senator John Kerry who heads the congressional committee responsible for the American foreign policy has said that Pakistan's president, army chief and the Inter-Services Intelligence are showing encouraging signs of transformation and taking the terrorists head on.
Between 2008 and 2015, India purchased defence equipments worth $34 billion, which is a distant second after Saudi Arabia's $93.5 billion, said the report 'Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations 2008-2015' released by Congressional Research Service.
Al Qaeda is trying to seek nuclear secrets from Pakistan and it remains as dangerous as ever, Special United States Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said on Wednesday. "Al Qaeda is still there in the region, ever dangerous and publicly asking people to attack the US and publicly asking nuclear engineers to give them nuclear secrets from Pakistan," Holbrooke said during a reception hosted by the Congressional Caucus.
Observing that Al Qaeda and its affiliates are still committed to striking the United States, a top American intelligence official has told US lawmakers that lone-wolf and homegrown extremist now poses an equally serious threat to the country.
United States lawmakers, who attended the annual Sikh American Heritage Dinner on Capitol Hill organized by the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, pledged to support the community's efforts to serve in the armed forces without compromising their religious principles.
Pakistan is continuing support to the Taliban and the Haqqani network as part of its backup plan to secure their western border in case the United States leaves Afghanistan, a top US intelligence official has said.
The massive $7.5 billion aid legislation to Pakistan, authored by United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John F Kerry and Republican Richard Lugar, would be approved without any difficulty in the coming weeks. The massive aid to Pakistan will be approved in spite of the serious doubts raised by some members of the committee, including a senior Democrat and a few Republicans, they said.
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.'
The United States has sought to insulate its request to the Congress for a cut in economic and security aid to Pakistan from its relationship with the country, asserting that it has no intention to lower ties with Islamabad.
According to the latest figures released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, just 29,700 people had applied for H-1B visas till August 13.
No dilution of language in the House and Senate bills is likely during the House-Senate conference that will meet on the United States-India civilian nuclear agreement when Congress reconvenes this week.
The Nuclear Security Summit is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1.
A key United States Senator and architect of the Congressional bill, which doles out $ 7.5 billion to Pakistan in the next five years, said that 'no conditions' have been imposed on Islamabad in lieu of the non-military aid.
Ties between Pakistan's ISI and Taliban remain troubling for the United States and this relationship should be "fixed", a top US senator has said.
The nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan has figured during a Congressional hearing on the New START treaty between the United States and Russia.For the past two days, during hearings on the New START treaty held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lawmakers wanted to know from top US officials and experts about other nuclear weapon countries like India and Pakistan and how it can motivate the two countries to reduce their nuclear stockpile.
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.
'The deal on offer creates a Tarapur-style trap of gigantic dimensions. In fact, the latest Act specifically empowers the US to do what it did in 1978 -- retroactively rewrite the rules of cooperation with India by enacting a new domestic law.'
The Senate version of the bill of approval of the Indo-United States nuclear agreement was introduced on Wednesday in the House of Representatives, giving boost to efforts to push the agreement hours before a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush in Washington.The bill was introduced by the Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
In a missive to Bush, USCIRF chair Felice D Gaer urged him to 'ask Prime Minister Singh to ensure the immediate security of Indian citizens -- security that is undermined by recurrent attacks on religious minorities and communities.'
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.
India is "very important" for America's foreign policy and crucial for the stability and peace in the region, an influential US lawmaker said on Thursday. "India is a very important part of the United States foreign policy," Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who is co-chair of the Congressional caucus on Pakistan and heads the Afghan caucus said at a panel discussion in Washington.
Over 90 Indian-American community leaders and political activists, who were catalytic in pushing through the passage of the legislation, took part in the ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
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."
Gregory Meeks, speaking to nearly 150 Indian Americans who had come to Capitol Hill as part of a Task Force to express outrage over the Mumbai terror attacks, couldn't contain his euphoria over the swearing in of Barack Obama as the nation's first African American President and the indirect connection to Mahatma Gandhi
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.
She's highly articulate, extremely charming, yet unabashedly hawkish when it comes to defending Pakistan, warts and all on the Kashmir issue, and this is sure to be a thorn in India's side in the think-tank circuit in Washington in the months to come and during Congressional hearings on South Asia, to which she's certain to be invited to testify.
"The possibility of catching him alive is infinitesimal. He will be killed by us or he will be killed by his own people so he can't be captured by us," US Attorney General Eric Holder said.
Congressman Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, introduced the resolution, which was voted 413-0.
Royce, 66, one of the founders of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, said he wanted to spend the remaining months of his term on "urgent threats" the US is facing.
'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.'
In its 28-page report, the CRS noted that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is widely regarded as designed to dissuade India from taking military action against it, but Islamabad's expansion of its nuclear arsenal, development of new types of nuclear weapons and adoption of a doctrine called "full spectrum deterrence" have led some observers to express concern about an increased risk of nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India, which also continues to expand its nuclear arsenal.
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.
Obviously having gotten the green light from the Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi that if they lobby the Speaker to address a joint session of Congress, which he has not been able to do despite his three visits to the US, the Congressmen informed Paul Ryan that 'It is our understanding that if invited, the prime minister would accept.'
