The situation in Sri Lanka, where thousands of Tamil civilians are trapped in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's strongholds, permeated the 45-minute discussion on Monday between United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon. This was the first high-level interaction between India and the Obama administration in Washington.
Report recommends government open up to cooperation with private sector.
Pakistan so far has rebuffed all US attempts to directly assist its forces in its war against terrorism despite best efforts by the Obama administration, a media report said on Monday. "Pakistan has accepted US money, weaponry and limited training, but has rebuffed further US efforts to assist its forces," The Washington Post said in a report.
United States President Barack Obama is sending a team of officials led by Richard Holbrooke, his special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, to visit refugee camps housing lakhs of people who have been displaced by the military offensive in Swat and adjoining areas of the North Western Frontier Province. Holbrooke is expected to have a first hand assessment of the situation and then recommend how best the US can accelerate relief measures.
United States has begun preparations to accord a "robust" welcome to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November, the first state visit of the Obama administration, to make it a special visit for the Indian leader and a "milestone" event in the Indo-US relationship.
Indian policy-makers must see the choices before them as economic, not moral, ones, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
"It is time we stopped paying Pakistan for its betrayal and designate it for what it is: a state sponsor of terrorism," said Congressman Ted Poe, who is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism.
The US is quietly going ahead with its plan of a civilian surge in Afghanistan for more than tripling the numbers in less than a year, even as a final call is awaited from the White House on sending thousands of more troops to the war-torn country.
United States President Barack Obama's decision to deploy more troops in Afghanistan indicates the deterioration of the war on terror as well as the escalating crisis in Pakistan, according to many military analysts and intelligence officials.They also fear that America's long-time ally might be on the verge of imploding due to its internal crises.Obama approved the order to deploy 17,000 troops in Afghanistan which beefs up the US troop strength by 50 per cent.
In a big relief to Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said the Democratic presidential candidate would not face any charges over allegations that she violated rules by using a private email server while she was US Secretary of State.