In a bid to restore investors' confidence after Mumbai terror attacks, the US-India Business Council has presented an optimistic assessment of the security situation in India, saying it is committed to doing trade with the country.
"I have been in contact with our ambassador in India, with Indian military leaders, and I am grateful for the very measured response that India has demonstrated. We have not done anything significantly different from the Pacific Command in terms of military presence or posture in the wake of the terrorist attacks," a top Pentagon official said.
"I think the steps that we've seen Pakistan take are good steps. They're promising steps. We hope they get followed up," Assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said in Beijing last week, according to a transcript released today by the State Department.
Describing the steps taken by Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks as great, a top Pentagon official has held that many more such steps would be taken by Islamabad.The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has said that there is a strong desire for justice on the part of the people of India and he is 'grateful for the restraint shown by the country'.
The United States has said that it will be good if Pakistan shifts to a tougher approach towards the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the prime suspect in the Mumbai terror attacks."We're continuing to follow the reports. What we are looking to see, if there's going to be a shift in Pakistan into how they deal with the LeT," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said.On the reports of arrests of some suspects in Pakistan, Perino said, "We are following those reports very closely."
United States President George W Bush has warned that State sponsors of terror are as guilty as the terrorists and will be held accountable, and acknowledged that terrorists continued to pose "serious challenges" as evidenced by the Mumbai terror attacks
"Obviously, these are two nuclear powers. Whenever you are dealing with terrorism in countries that are nuclear powers, it is always -- it creates a heightened concern. Obviously, the Pakistani government has enormous challenges -- financially, politically, from terrorists," US Defence Department Spokesman Geoff Morrell said. "We see no reason at this point to have any concern with regards to the security of either country's arsenal," he added.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on Wednesday met with the officials of the United States administration to discuss the issues related to the terror attacks in Mumbai that had claimed around 200 lives, including foreigners.Menon called on the Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns during his two-day visit to Washington.Menon's visit was planned ahead of the terror attacks in India's financial capital.
The United States has sent its top defence official to India to find out the culprit behind the Mumbai terror attacks that had claimed over 200 lives, including Americans, last week.Defence Secretary Robert Gates has confirmed that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen is on his way to India or already there."But the truth is most of the people who were killed were Indians. And so it's important that we find out who did it," he said.
With tensions mounting between Islamabad and New Delhi over the Mumbai terror attacks, the White House has said it is yet to confront evidence of Pakistan government's involvement and trusts it to cooperate in the investigation.
Pakistan must give absolute and transparent cooperation to India in the investigations into the Mumbai terror attacks, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday.
US President-elect Barack Obama today promised to do whatever possible to revive stalled economic growth in the short run and insisted that there is no question of being in any danger of an environment of "over-reach".
In its first intervention in Asia since the beginning of the current financial crisis, the IMF has approved a $7.6 billion rescue fund for Pakistan that will support the country's economic stabilisation programme.
Although countries like India and Brazil were not part of the just concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, there is a commitment from leaders of the two nations to see the Doha Round modalities done by the end of this year, Dan Price, assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs, said in a briefing en route to Andrews Air Force Base at the conclusion of the APEC meeting in Peru.
The US position is that cooperation on the construction of two new reactors, Chasma III and IV, would be inconsistent with the commitments China made at the time of its adherence to Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines in 2004.
Concerned over reports of United States President-elect Barack Obama's transition team member Sonal Shah's links with right-wing Hindu groups, some Indian-Americans have expressed fear that it might possibly influence the US policies towards India
President-elect Barack Obama's Transition Team has announced leaders for a series of Policy Working Groups for the Presidential Transition, which includes Indian-American Sonal Shah of Google, who will craft the incoming administration's high tech policy priorities.Shah heads Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org's global development efforts, and has a lengthy resume on international development issues.
Favouring a 'new Bretton Woods Agreement', International Monetary Fund chief Dominque Strauss-Kahn has said an early warning system to detect impending dangers to the world economy must be put together by international financial expertise.
"In order for McCain to win, he's got a very steep hill to climb. He's got to win all of the toss-up states, 64 electoral votes. Then he needs to strip away Ohio and Indiana with 31 electoral votes to get him to 252. And then he needs to either win Colorado and Virginia, which gets him to 274, or win one of them plus Pennsylvania, which would get him to 282 or 286. It's a steep uphill climb," said Karl Rove, the 'architect' of President Bush's electoral wins in 2000 and 2004.
Introduced by the tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal at the World Steel Association, the top administration official argued that the international system is changing and hence 'great,large countries' would have to be accommodated in that global framework.