The United States continues to negotiate with Pakistan on re-opening of the crucial NATO supply routes to Afghanistan that were closed by Islamabad after a cross-border NATO air strike killed 24 of its soldiers last year, the State Department said on Wednesday.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will discuss non-proliferation issues among other things during her trip to India in May, a United States official said on Saturday. "The Secretary will be in India, both in Delhi and in Kolkata. She will have a chance in the context of our bilateral dialogue to talk about the full range of issues, including nonproliferation issues," said State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland.
"There is no change (in US policy)... he (Modi) is welcome to apply. All visa decisions are made on a case by case basis, and I'm not going to prejudge it here," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told media persons at her daily news conference.
The United States has said it is strongly supportive of India's investment in the civil nuclear power sector and does not favour its NGOs opposing anti-nuclear activities in the country. "We are supportive, as a government, of India's investment in civil nuclear power. That's not what we support NGOs to do in India," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said when asked about recent statements by Indian authorities that American NGOs are involved.
United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake will travel to Maldives for a first-hand assessment of the current political crisis in the island nation. "Assistant Secretary Blake has decided that he will add a stop in Male, capital of the Maldives, to his upcoming trip to the region. He will be there on Saturday, February 11, en route also to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as planned," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.
Amid strained ties with Pakistan, the United States has disbursed USD 2.2 billion (Rs 11,440 cr) civilian aid to Islamabad in the past two years under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill, the State department has said.
Expressing gratification over the lifting of travel curbs imposed on former envoy to the United States Husain Haqqani by the Pakistan's apex court, Washington has said that it wants to see him "treated fairly".
Thirteen Iranians were rescued by a US Navy destroyer on Thursday, more than 40 days after their boat was commandeered by suspected Somali pirates in the northern Arabian Sea.
As US State Department on Wednesday posted a new map of India reflecting its long standing official position on the country's geographical boundaries, its spokesman acknowledged of having made a "goof up" in this regard, which had resulted in a strong objection from New Delhi.
"Some of the senior staff who spoke to her about half an hour ago say that she's sounding terrific, upbeat, raring to go. She's looking forward to getting back to the office," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told media person.
If Pakistan decides not to take action against the Haqqani network, the United States would carefully consider how to proceed ahead, a top US official said on Tuesday.
The United States has said it is not part of the Indian investigation that is looking into doctored images and videos being uploaded on the internet by elements in Pakistan to create social unrest in the country.
Strongly reacting to Pakistan jailing a doctor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency find Osama bin Laden to 33 years, the United States has said there was no basis for the verdict and it will raise the issue with the leadership in Islamabad. "We continue to see no basis for (Shakil) Afridi to be held," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters.
The United States on Monday urged all people concerned to protect the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in view of allegations of a Chinese plot to assassinate him.
The Siachen issue between India and Pakistan is to be primarily resolved through dialogue, but the United States is willing to help the two neighbors in whatever way it could, a State Department official said on Monday.
The United States has made it clear that a $10 million bounty on Hafiz Saeed was primarily due to his key role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and said it wants to bring to book the Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder who has been brazenly flouting the justice system.
The United States is in conversation with these 12 countries on ways and means to avoid the American sanctions against them.
The State Department remarks came as the World Bank started the process to select its new head, who would replace it current President, Robert Zoellick.
"We made a goof up and we fixed it and we're now back in compliance with our own cartographical policy," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told media persons at her daily news conference.
Struggling to restore its flagging ties with Pakistan in the aftermath of the deadly strike by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Obama administration has said it has not cut any civilian aid to the country, noting the move in this regard was part of a defence bill in the Congress. "Well, first of all, just to clarify what has and hasn't happened here in our understanding. We have not cut $700 million in aid to Pakistan," State Department spokesperson said.
"On the US side, I don't have any reason to believe that we have a violation of US law here. With regard to the Indian side, I'll refer you to them," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said on Monday, categorically dismissing allegations by Indian opposition parties in this regard.
"We have taken the map down off the website. It did contain some inaccuracies which were associated with the boundaries of some geographic features," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said at her daily news conference.
The letter, written by the Indian ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao to the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in which she expressed her concern about the Indian students affected by the "sham" Tri-Valley University is being reviewed and would be replied soon, an official spokesperson has said.
Last week, education ministers of four Indian States -- Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir -- visited several US cities to have a first hand experience of the community colleges in Washington.
The visit of the Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to Kabul was good and well timed, the United States has said even as it awaited the details of the trip from the two countries.
Struggling hard to restore its ties with Pakistan in the aftermath of NATO air strike last month, the Obama administration on Tuesday said that it has not cut any civilian aid to Pakistan, noting that this is an on-going move in the Congress right now.
At a time when the United States is supporting a reconciliation effort in Afghanistan, Pakistan needs to focus on the Taliban on its side of the border by both signaling its support to the talks and squeezing down the militants, the US state department has said.
A Chinese research ship on Wednesday docked at Sri Lanka's Colombo port, officials in Colombo said, amid security concerns raised by the US over its visit.
US Under Secretary Victoria Nuland, who met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, raised concerns about the upcoming visit of the Chinese research vessel 'SHI YAN 6'
'I was amazed at how tasty it was.' 'They did a good job with millets and lentils, which Mr Modi liked.'
Russia has already begun delivery of the first S-400 systems, and the question of sanctions, or of a waiver to sanctions, preoccupies New Delhi.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be on a two-day official visit to India from Thursday, his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last month.
It is learnt that Lavrov is expected to travel to India either on Thursday or Friday after concluding a two-day visit to China.
'It was beautifully played by an American band.'
The United States on Friday issued a fresh travel alert for Americans attending the Sochi Winter Olympics, citing cybersecurity threats and warning them to have "no expectation of privacy" using Russian communications networks.
There is a congruence of interests between Ukrainian intelligence and its Western mentors to destroy Wagner and eliminate it from the geopolitical chessboard altogether, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The full-court press on India over Ukraine, the BBC 'documentary', the Oxfam report, the Hindenburg attack on Adani and obliquely on the Indian economy, and any number of other acts are signs that India is a target, warns Rajeev Srinivasan.
The Biden administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on combating dreaded terrorist groups such as the ISIS-K and Al Qaeda following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a set of leaked documents and diplomatic cables to a prominent US media outlet.
There's no rush to recognition from the United States or any country we have spoken with around the world. It will be very dependent on their behaviour and whether they deliver on what the expectations are of the global community, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
What is the guarantee that another Trump will not arise and reach out to the American people directly? The fact of the matter is that Trump's support base remains the envy of any American politician, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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