'It is important that the prime minister and our officials here, we dedicate ourselves to that important goal, the concept of freedom of religion for all to worship their faith,' US Congressman Ed Royce tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com
'Of all the areas that define the future for a strong US-India partnership, none is more important than our defence and security ties.'
'This is a US-India effort and it is not necessarily to counterweight anyone.'
'Obama probably thinks, "He is quite a guy!" Americans on Capitol Hill think, "He has guts. He is a big player".' An Indian official explains the importance of the Modi visit to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
US President Barack Obama on Saturday embarked on his highly anticipated three-day landmark trip to India during which the two countries will strive to make progress on climate change, defence and economic cooperation.
But the Democrats appeared to be unconvinced by Trump's argument of national emergency.
Neither Barack Obama or John F Kerry were involved in the decision for Ambassador Nancy Powell to meet Narendra Modi. Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports from Washington, DC.
'We have never before seen an Indian prime minister's visit to the United States so heavily business-oriented and so packed with meetings with the US business community.' Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC.
The meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United States President Barack Obama will be held as per schedule on September 27 at the White House, despite the latter being busy due to the ongoing Syrian crisis.
Trade between Australia and India stands at around $15 billion a year, or just a tenth of that between Australia and China.
Opportunity for India to take leadership in economic diplomacy.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
The issued rocked both houses of Parliament with the Opposition demanding Modi's statement on Trump's controversial remarks, holding that Kashmir is a bilateral issue and no third party can intervene.
'The surge of Saudi nationalism is the last thing Washington wants,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The MoU was signed by New York Consul Geneal Dnyaneshwar Mulay on behalf of the ICCR and Richard L Edwards, executive vice president for Academic Affairs and interim Chancellor, Rutgers University to initiate this academic partnership.
'If Islamic extremists regain power in Afghanistan, Pakistan will lead them to Kashmir as a fighting arena again. India needs to fortify Kashmir and prepare against these Islamic extremists before they come again.'
'China's actions at the NSG will certainly taint India-China bilateral relations and enhance suspicion of China's intentions. A fresh clear-eyed and objective evaluation of the India-China relationship is necessary, especially as India tries to correct adversely balanced bilateral economic ties and the two countries engage over the long-term,' says Jayadeva Ranade.
The camaraderie between Modi and Obama has taken the India-US relationship to unprecedented and transformative levels.
Even as Barack Obama administration officials believe that the India-US relationship has now "emerged at the world stage" and is no longer a "restricted to narrow" South Asia or subcontinental set of issues, they also concede that America's security partnership with Pakistan over the years still poses challenge to India-US relationship.
The visit of Modi to the United States represents an important opportunity to rejuvenate bilateral ties after a period of malaise and inattention.
'It is a tense border and there are numerous elements that keep these tensions alive.' 'India is willing to militarily respond if provoked.'
All the three issues raised by China at the Modi-Xi meeting are either intractable or peripheral to the bilateral relations and suggest conventional methods to placate the other side without yielding much, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
Modi presented Obama with a richly silk-covered special edition of Mahatma Gandhi's interpretation of the Bhagvad Gita, and recordings of Dr Martin Luther King's speech when he visited India in 1959 and also a specially framed photograph of Dr King when he visited Rajghat. Modi had scrupulously researched and selected these gifts for Obama and more gifts would be presented on Tuesday during their summit for both the President and the First Family.
With Donald Trump the appeal has to be to his business instincts in which his personal interests seem to play a significant role, says former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
'Our goal is to leave this relationship in a fundamentally different place than it was when President Obama took office and when Prime Minister Modi took office and we believe that we have a unique moment of opportunity to have that kind of breakthrough.'
Trump said his visit to Saudi Arabia will include a gathering of leaders from 'across the Muslim world' to unite against extremism.
A panel for informal consultations on India's membership has also been set up by the NSG and it will be headed by Argentine Ambassador Rafael Grossi.
The American, Russian and Chinese reactions to the Uri attack indicates how tough it will be for India to 'isolate' Pakistan internationally,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'He needs to control his foot soldiers by taking either stern action against the over enthusiastic members of his group or convince them to stop causing him this embarrassment.' 'We know that most of these leaders are not going to be prosecuted by Indian authorities. So we are seeking alternate means to bring them to justice,' FIACONA President John Prabhudoss tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com
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Modi has plenty of opportunities to test out his strategy. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will visit India this month, and Modi will fly to Washington towards the end of September for a summit with US President Barack Obama.
'Is Xi's China stable?'
'No one can say whether the regime will fall all at once or if its leaders are devising a new solid and competitive -- anything but democratic -- model.' A fascinating excerpt from Francois Bougon's Inside The Mind of Xi Jinping.
'Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may be anxious for a farewell visit to Washington in October,' says retired Ambassador K C Singh, 'but bending backwards on America's PRISM policy is going to earn him scorn at home and contempt abroad.'
'While visits and personal meetings are useful, changes of strategic significance have occurred recently, with Beijing trying to take the lead which Modi must take note of.'
The stakes are high and it is not certain that slow-moving foreign office bureaucracies can measure up to the challenges being thrown up, says Hardeep S Puri.
The expulsion is likely to cloud India-China ties as Narendra Modi visits China for the G-20 Leaders Summit on September 4-5 and Xi Jinping is scheduled to be in Goa for the BRICS meeting on October 15-16.
'Xi's emphasis on enhancing conventional military deterrence capabilities, joint operations and power projection are likely to increase friction points with India as with other nations,' points out China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
This is the story of Kirthi Jayakumar.
On the backdrop of surgical strike, the US advised caution given the heavy militarisation between the two neighbours.
The PM will meet President Donald Trump face-to-face for the first time at the White House on Monday. "I think that the US really appreciates India, and I think that President Trump realises that India has been a force for good in the world and that it's a relationship that's important. And I think that will come through in the visit on Monday," the official said.
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