The United States will supplement its multi-billion dollar aid package to Pakistan with a series of powerful new weapons, including smart bombs, to help Islamabad crackdown on its growing militant groups.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have in recent weeks pledged further security assistance to Islamabad, in addition to the 7.5 billion dollars in aid over five years.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the US Joint Forces Command would close, the use of outside contractors would be cut and the number of generals and admirals reduced. The command, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, has an annual budget of US $ 240 million and 2,800 military and civilian employees.
Describing the Pakistani Army's offensive against the Taliban and other extremist groups as "terrific", US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has assured Islamabad that Washington would keep supporting the troubled nation in future also.
US President Barack Obama has approved the deployment 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, as he said the situation in the Afghan-Pakistan region demands immediate attention.
Rahul Bedi, who has been writing relentlessly on India's strategic and defence related issues, thinks this year will cement India-United States defence ties like never before. New Delhi-based Bedi is a correspondent for the prestigious Jane's Defence Weekly spoke to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Suspicious of deepening ties between India and the United States, Pakistan is reluctant to plunge into war with Afghan militants and even high-profile visits of US officials have failed to win over a military and civilian establishment in Islamabad, a media report said.
In an apparent bid to pacify the Pakistani leadership, United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said that his statement -- that any more Mumbai type attacks could probably ignite a war between India and Pakistan -- was 'misunderstood'.Addressing a gathering at the National Defence University in Islamabad, Gates said the US had never encouraged India to attack Pakistan.
Giving in to its long standing demand, the United States has agreed to share drone technology and provide at least a dozen unmanned aerial vehicles to Pakistan.During his visit to Pakistan, United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that Washington is planning to provide some unarmed spy drones to Islamabad to encourage it to fight against militants on the Afghanistan border and do more in the region.
United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday ruled out the possibility of his country playing a role in facilitating the resumption of the composite dialogue between Pakistan and India, which has been stalled since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday asked New Delhi and Washington to share any information they have about possible terrorist attacks in India by Pakistan-based militant groups.
China was a major focus during talks between United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Indian political leadership during his two-day visit.
The US is "fully alive" to the dangers involved in India's neighbourhood, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Wednesday.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday there has been a remarkable advancement of defence relationship between India and the United States in the last few years. "There have been remarkable advances made just in the last few years," Gates told media-persons on board flying with him on his trip to India-his first as the US Defence Secretary in Obama Administration.
American Defence Secretary Robert Gates will visit India from Tuesday on a three-day trip to boost defence ties and step-up cooperation on regional security.
United Stated Defence Secretary Robert Gates will visit India next week during which the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and regional security issues will dominate the agenda of his talks with the Indian leadership. The January 19-21 tour of Gates will be the first high-level visit from the Barack Obama administration after the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington in November last year.
The lawmakers have asked the Defence Secretary to give full consideration to the soldiers' requests. They, in their letter, cited other Sikhs' service in the US Armed Forces and in its allies' militaries to support their argument that these men should be permitted to serve.
Following an outcry from the Sikh community, the United States Defence Department has decided to review its policy, which prevents Sikhs from joining the country's armed forces. On behalf of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the Pentagon has informed advocacy group Sikh Coalition that it was reviewing current regulations, which prevent a US Sikh national from serving the army, on the ground that they wear turban.
Amidst a war of words between the two countries, the US came out in defence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai calling him a valuable partner and said American officials need to be sensitive while making comments on the war-torn country. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said General Stanley McChrystal, who is the head of US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation-led troops in Afghanistan, had excellent relations with the Afghan President.
Superimposing the India stick on the traditional carrots of aid, weaponry and undying friendship, is a measure of Washington's desperation in dealing with Pakistan's reluctance to crack down on Jihadi terrorism. Gates' new stance will also highlight America's shrinking interest in cultivating a benign image in Pakistan. Draining the abscess of radicalism is now a greater imperative.
During Dr Gates' just-concluded stay in Delhi, one saw the transition in adjusting himself to Obama's vision of India as the pre-eminent power of South Asia, whose role will be important for the success of Obama's Af-Pak strategy, writes strategic expert B Raman.
The US made it clear on Wednesday that India's patience would be "limited" if it faces a Mumbai-type attack again, as it warned that Lashkar-e-Tayiba was working in league with the Al Qaeda to destabilise the region and provoke an Indo-Pak military confrontation.
Overriding strong objections from Islamabad, the United States has conveyed to Pakistan that missile strikes to take out high value militant targets inside its territory would continue. This decision of the new US administration was made known by the Defence Secretary Robert Gates in his testimony before the Senate armed services committee, where he also outlined that Pentagon was preparing to send two more army brigades to Afghanistan.
United States Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, has profusely apologised and expeditiously gone on damage control mode after stating that 'a rising India' is a grave threat to the US. The Senator from Texas states that the F-22's are "important to our national security because we're not just fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We're fighting --we have graver threats and greater threats than that: From a rising India, with increased exercise of military power'.
Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor has arrived in Washington on a week-long visit to the United States, during which he is expected to hold discussions with top US military leadership on a wide range of bilateral issues, besides the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. General Kapoor is scheduled to meet Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, his counterpart in the US Army General George W Casey and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
When Robert Gates, the present US defence secretary, was the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, George Bush, the then US president (1988-92), had visited the CIA headquarters and addressed its officers.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has refuted the whining of Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani who had contended in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal that the main reason Pakistan's counter-insurgency efforts this far against the Taliban and other extremist groups was because it had not been provided with proper equipment --attack helicopters and night visions goggles -- by the United States as promised.
The United States on Friday said that Pakistani leaders must take action against rapidly expanding Taliban militants who now pose an 'existential threat' to Islamabad. "I think that some of the leaders certainly understand that (threat posed by the Taliban), but it is important that they not only recognise it but take the appropriate actions to deal with it," United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates told reporters during his visit to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates has claimed that Iran has every intention of developing nuclear weapons. In an interview with ABC aired on Sunday, Gates added, "The question of whether they have made a formal decision to move towards the development of nuclear weapons is in doubt."
Amid strong reactions from Pakistan to United States-led coalition forces' raids against militants on its soil, the Bush administration has refused to comment on the issue, evading queries on the reported go-ahead given to American special forces by President George W Bush.Asked whether the forces operating in Afghanistan had the powers to launch cross-border attacks, Defence Secretary Robert Gates refused to address the issue.
Indian Defence Minister A K Antony -- on his maiden visit to the United States met Defence Secretary Robert Gates in the Pentagon on Tuesday. Antony was received with full ceremonial honours in the River Parade Field before engaging in over an hour-long discussion on bilateral, regional and international issues with Gates. Sources said that no major bilateral agreements vis--vis military sales or contracts were signed during the meeting.
During the meeting, Antony accompanied by a delegation comprising the Defence Secretary and the Director General of Procurement is expected to exchange views on not only the status of the bilateral defence and security cooperation but also the next steps that are being envisioned. It is learnt that Antony and Gates would also be discussing global and regional issues, including the recent developments in the sub-continent.
Indian-Americans in the Washington metropolitan area accorded visiting Indian Defence Minister A K Antony -- on his maiden visit to the United States on the invitation of Defence Secretary Robert Gates -- a rousing welcome on his arrival at the Washington Dulles International Airport on Sunday evening. Dr Parthasarathy Pillai, a community icon in the Washington, DC area and erstwhile national president of the National Federation of Indian Associations were at the airport.
The United States has refused to confirm or deny reports claiming Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has rebuffed top intelligence officials of the Bush administration, on proposed American operations inside Pakistan, including joint operations.
The visit of US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to New Delhi - the first by a top Obama administration member after the State Visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here last year - is all set to bolster Indo-US ties, a leading American expert on South Asia has said.
'We are writing to request that you join us in signing the attached letter that we are sending to Secretary (Robert) Gates regarding a fundamental issue of fairness, justice, and religious freedom: the right of Sikh Americans to abide by their religious articles of faith while serving in the United States Armed Forces,' wrote Congressmen Rodney Frelinghuysen and Carolyn Maloney in a 'dear colleague' letter.
The United States has not received reliable intelligence on the whereabouts of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden for years and does not know where the world's most wanted terrorist is hiding, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said. "Well, we don't know for a fact where Osama bin Laden is. If we did, we'd go get him," Gates told ABC News when asked whether the Pakistan government was doing enough to catch the terrorist mastermind.
The United States has announced the appointment of a new commander of its forces in Afghanistan as it now starts sending an additional 21,000 troops to this war-torn country to fight against the Taliban and the Al Qaeda. "McKiernan was asked to resign," Gates told reporters at a Pentagon press conference. Both the White House and the Defense Department said the changes in the top US military leadership has been taken in view of US President Barack Obaama's new Af-Pak policy.
The only thing that may salvage Narendra Modi's trip to the US is his meetings with CEOs, such as those of Blackstone, First Solar, Qualcomm, Adobe, and General Atomics, asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
The US on Wednesday pressed for early conclusion of the controversial Logistics Support Agreement as the two sides were close to signing two pacts on guaranteeing that US weapons supplied to India will not end up with third countries.
The controversial Logistics Support Agreement and expansion of United States military sales to India are expected to figure prominently during the two-day visit of Defence Secretary Robert Gates from February 26. During the security dialogue, the two sides will review their strategic cooperation in various fields and explore ways to enhance the ties during the visit, sources said.
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