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.
After the 1962 War with China, there was a demand to forge greater defence cooperation between India and the West. One such voice was that of Sudhir Ghosh, a distinguished MP, to tie up strategic cooperation with the USA immediately after the Chinese attack on India, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
'There is simply too much bringing us together,' says nuclear proliferation expert Leonard Spector.
"This means we need the Pakistani political system -- or as many parts of it as possible -- to buy into the goal of eliminating extremist influence in Pakistan."
The former Los Angeles mayor's nomination was pending before the US Congress since July 2021 when he was nominated for the prestigious diplomatic posting by Biden.
United States Senator John F Kerry, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in convening the nomination hearing of Nancy J Powell to be the next US ambassador to India, said, America's partnership with India "is without doubt one of the most significant partnerships in US foreign policy."
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.
'Pakistan has received assurances that no dispensation in Afghanistan will be inimical to Pakistani interests and that Pakistan will have a say in the determination of the future of the region. India would definitely not be part of the new order if the US could help it.'
Juster, 62, is an old India hand who played a key role in the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
United States President Barack Obama is likely to nominate Senator John Kerry as his next secretary of state, according to media reports. Kerry, currently the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations committee, has been a close confidant of Obama on foreign policy issues.
The White House on Wednesday stood behind Eric Garcetti asserting he is qualified to serve as United States Ambassador to India, even as a Congressional committee vote on his nomination was postponed till March 8 after a Republican Senator placed a hold on his nomination.
'If that occurs, the world will be safer,' says Senator Joseph Biden.
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.'
'Today, our hearts are with India. Jill and I send our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones during the bridge collapse and join the people of Gujarat in mourning the loss of too many lives cut short,' Biden said.
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.
Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence-sponsored Haqqani Network, responsible for the killings of United States and coalition troops in Afghanistan and widely believed to have been responsible for the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul a few years ago, is on the verge of being designated a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.
The bill now heads to the White House for President Donald Trump's approval.
We have nothing to gain by raising our concerns internationally as our narrative has got entangled with several controversial concepts in the United Nations, asserts Ambassador T N Sreenivasan.
All efforts of Trump's party to repeal the healthcare of his predecessor has failed so far, mainly due to the opposition of some of his own Senators.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who was on a visit to the US last month, said that America's relationship with Pakistan has "not served" either of the two countries and raised questions on the Biden administration's approval of a USD 450-million sustenance package for the F-16 fleet.
Saying that the challenges the United States faces in Pakistan are far greater to that in Afghanistan, Senator John F Kerry, the chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee, warned that if Pakistan, "a nuclear-armed nation of 170 million people" becomes a failed state, it would pose 'an unimaginable peril to itself, its neighbors and the world.'
The reality is that far from being friendless, India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold War, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
A key United States Senate sub-committee has approved $1 billion aid to Pakistan for the fiscal year 2013. The $52.1 billion Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill for the year 2103 was passed by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, during its meeting on Tuesday.
Tillerson is a veteran chief executive who has had extensive overseas business dealings but his relationships with foreign leaders could complicate his confirmation prospects.
Garcetti's nomination is pending before the US Congress since July 2021, when he was nominated for the prestigious diplomatic posting by President Joe Biden.
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.
United States President-elect Joseph Biden has always been a strong supporter of India and India-US partnership since his days in Senate and later as a Vice-President.
The US is making investments in defence ties with India to uphold a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers Thursday indicating that strengthening ties with New Delhi is one of the key factors to address the pacing challenge from China.
India comes under attack over religious intolerance, human trafficking and slavery at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Donald Lu, was speaking to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, just after India had abstained from a vote on the United Nations General Assembly resolution.
United States President-elect Barack Obama's Secretary of State designate Senator Hillary Clinton, appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as part of her confirmation process on Tuesday, said that the Obama administration will condition military aid to Pakistan, on its commitment to counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism.
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.
The United States has the right to target the Haqqani network that not only kills American troops in Afghanistan, but also sponsors Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, said Senator Carl Levin, who chairs the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.
India is "a powerhouse" in today's world and indispensable to "the conduct of global affairs", believes Senator John F Kerry, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee and erstwhile Democratic presidential nominee in 2004.
US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has promised "accountability" and "transparency" in America's civilian aid to Pakistan, a fortnight after a top Senator had expressed serious concern that the funds might end up in bank accounts of corrupt politicians and officials of the country.
United States Secretary of State John Kerry has held wide-ranging talks with visiting Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh on key issues, including the regional situation with respect to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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