The president of the South Asian Studies Association -- a non-profit professional association comprising professors and students at universities and colleges dedicated to 'understanding South Asia's cultures, histories, issues and opportunities' -- has slammed the recent humiliating pat-down of India's ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar and also taken Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to task for not expressing outrage over this incident.
Senior Indian Foreign Service officials Sharat Sabharwal and Meera Shankar will be the next envoys to Pakistan and the United States respectively. Sabharwal, Special Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, will succeed High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal, who reaches superannuation on February 28. Shankar, India's Ambassador to Germany, will succeed Ronen Sen in Washington.
She will also be the first serving diplomat to be posted in Washington in more than two decades after K Shankar Bajpai.
In yet another sign of deepening relationship between India and the United States, the Friends of Indian Caucus in the US Senate is holding a rare Congressional reception for the new Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar.
India's outgoing ambassador to the United States, Meera Shankar, was showered with praises as the US administration gave her a warm send off, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lauding her role in strengthening the partnership between the two countries.
American lawmakers, who were attending the Confederation of Indian Industry's launch of a new study on Indian investment in the United States at a Congressional reception on Capitol Hill, showered Ambassador Meera Shankar with a surfeit of kudos, much to her embarrassment.Congressman Joe Crowley, New York Democrat and co-chair of the India Caucus in the US House of Representatives, said, "Ambassador you are a rock star". He also spoke of her receiving "a rock star welcome".
She will also be the first serving diplomat to be posted in Washington in more than two decades after K Shankar Bajpai.
'India and US relations move forward on the basis of potential and opportunities in the context of our bilateral relations,' says India's ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar.
United States President Barack Obama joined world leaders in paying rich tributes to late Special Envoy for Af-Pak region Richard Holbrooke, calling him a leading light who served the country until his final moments. "It is no coincidence that his life story so closely paralleled the major events of his times," Obama said, eulogising Holbrooke, who died on December 13, at a memorial ceremony, also attended by visiting Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday.
Security is a science in the US, it is an art here. Former diplomat TP Sreenivasan offers his take on the controversy over the airport 'pat-down' of Ambassador Meera Shankar
President Barack Obama welcomed Indian envoy Meera Shankar at the White House on Wednesday, during the credentials ceremony for newly appointed ambassadors to Washington, DC.
India should watch the emergence of the situation and then see how others react, he said adding that Russia has stood by India in very difficult times.
Rediff.com's Bikash Mohapatra, who witnessed the historic re-election of Barack Obama as president, talks to former Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar about the future of the ties between the two democracies
Shankar presented her diplomatic papers to officers and was escorted by a Mississippi Development Authority representative and an airport security officer, but witnesses said she was subjected to the hands-on search.
There has been overwhelming elation from across United States from Indian American community leaders and activists over the decision by the government of India to appoint Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao as the new Indian Ambassador to the US, to succeed Meera Shankar whose term ends on July 31 after which she is expected to go into retirement from the Indian Foreign Service.
The government on Saturday officially announced the appointment of Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao as the next ambassador to the United States, an assignment she will take up shortly.
United States Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah, who is the highest ranking Indian-American official in the Obama administration, has received the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman.
Hillary Clinton said. "It was not raised with me or raised directly with the state department," but she reiterated, "Certainly, we will be looking into it and not only responding to the Indian foreign minister, but also reviewing the policies."
"Following the telephonic conversation between the External Affairs Minister of India and the US Secretary of State on February 13, the Indian Ambassador on Tuesday conveyed to the Secretary of State details on the issue of the Indian students at Tri-Valley University," Indian Embassy spokesman Virender Paul said in a statement.
Close on the heels of Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar being subjected to a 'pat-down' search, another incident of top Indian diplomat Hardeep Puri being patted down at Houston Airport has come to light following which India has lodged a strong protest with the United States.
India has conveyed its concern to the United States over the way an Indian diplomat's daughter was arrested in New York.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Monday expressed appreciation over Indian Ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar informing the Indian government about reports of corruption. However, he remained mum over the Centre's delay in taking action against officials who had allegedly accepted bribes from US companies. The government would initiate action against corrupt officials at the earliest, he added.
Take a look at the pictures of Barack Obama's visit to India. You can see Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar and National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon. Can you spot Foreign Minister S M Krishna anywhere?
US officials have agreed to take "suitable steps" in giving India a direct access to Headley, a statement released by the Indian Embassy in Washington said on Wednesday.
The government of India has set up the B R Ambedkar Chair in Indian Constitutional Law at the Columbia University Law School. It also established the Jagdish Bhagwati Fellowships at the law school to help students from India.
The former President also predicted that the conflict between India and Pakistan would be resolved by people power where "the people are going to force the nations to work for the prosperity of the nation and the peace of the nation."
"We look forward to President Obama's visit to India next month with great hope and optimism and as an opportunity at highest political level to steer our relationship onto a new higher plane," said Meera Shankar, Indian envoy to the US.
The Appeal of Conscience Foundation announced to felicitate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with its prestigious World Statesman Award for the year 2010.
Though this growth slowed down a little in the aftermath of the global economic crisis, our economy has rebounded. After dipping to 6.7 per cent in 2008, growth this year is expected to be in the region of 8.5 per cent.
Gopal Krishna makes a case against the nuclear liability bill.
Speaking on 'India and the United States -- A Growing Partnership', she said the two leaders agreed to work together bilaterally and with all other countries to ensure a comprehensive and balanced outcome at the climate change meeting in Copenhagen.
Rabbi Chanochm, 25, and Leiky Gechtman, 23, will return to Mumbai as the first permanent Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
The four member National Investigative Agency team has concluded questioning of Mumbai terror suspect David Coleman Headley and has headed back home, Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar said on Thursday.
The difficulties to get a visa to India has forced several Indian Americans to go for a 24-hour fast at Houston, Texas ion the United States. It was covered on the front pages of mainstream newspapers, including The Houston Chronicle.
"We are in touch with the Department of Homeland Security. There may be ways in which we can improve communications so that officials at airports know when diplomats are coming and help to better facilitate their movement through security," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said at his daily news conference on Friday.
Noting that there are well-established conventions and practices as to how members of the diplomatic community should be treated, Krishna said such an incident has taken place for the second time in the last three months.
India is keenly looking forward to United States President Barack Obama's visit in November and his trip will prove to be a major step forward in strengthening relationship between the two great democracies of the world, according to Meera Shankar, the Indian ambassador to the US."We hope that President Obama's upcoming visit would prove to be a major step forward in not only consolidating what our two democracies have jointly achieved."
Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar described the transformation that the Indo-US bilateral relationship had witnessed in recent years and highlighted the complementaries and convergences in the ties. Shankar asked US companies to take advantage of the huge infrastructure development programme, which India proposes to undertake during the next few years.
The decision in this regard was taken when urban development secretary M Ramachandran met with top officials of the Obama Administration during his four-day visit to the US capital this week.
India's new envoy to the United States, Meera Shankar, has said that the results of the recent elections in India "are a vote for continuity, stability and inclusive development." To sustained applause, Shankar also lauded the catalytic role played by the Indian American community in taking Indo-US relations in recent years to unprecedented levels."Of course, our relations with the US have undergone a very significant transformation," she said.
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