Home Secretary GK Pillai talks to Aditi Phadnis about police reforms

'We should encourage all of our partners in the counter-terror world to break up these cells and use any intelligence gained to undermine and weaken this threat. This is a good counterterrorism policy, a good policy for keeping India assured that we take their concerns seriously in the war on terror, and a good way to put pressure on Islamabad to finally take on Lashkar at home,' Bruce Riedel observed.

That the office of the NSA came under fire after the terror attacks of 26/11 can be attributed to the fact that the present incumbent may have given the impression that the NSA is an intelligence czar. That role is now proposed to be assigned to a new counter-terrorism centre under the Union home ministry. Another argument, which was advanced even earlier, is that internal and external security are looked after by home and defence ministries so why do we need the NSA?

United States lawmakers on Wednesday expressed serious concern over Chinese military buildup, which was agreed to by top officials of the Obama administration at a Congressional hearing.

Pakistan has approximately 60 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, although the figure could be higher, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.The report states that Pakistan "continues to produce fissile material for weapons and appears to be augmenting its weapons production facilities, as well as deploying additional delivery vehicles -- steps that will enable both quantitative and qualitative improvements in Islamabad's nuclear arsenal."

"Pakistan must be dissuaded from using terrorism as a state policy, and part of the US engagement with Pakistan should be focused on that result," says Ed Royce, senior Republican lawmaker.

As top Obama Administration official went to the Capitol Hill to explain to them the new Af-Pak policy, lawmakers questioned Pakistan's role and wanted assurance from the US government that Islamabad would be honest and sincere this time.

M K Bhadrakumar on what the US and India should do to stabilise Afghanistan and rein in rogue elements in Pakistan.

The Indian security set-up should look at the way the American security is organised and learn from it, says Brigadier S K Chatterji.

Christine Fair, who infuriated New Delhi when she alleged that India was meddling in Balochistan, has been offered the India portfolio in the Obama administration.

The over-a-month long winter session of the Parliament, which is kicks off on Thursday, is expected to witness a storm on a daily basis, as the opposition is armed with not less than a dozen issues to put the government on the mat almost every day.

A retired Indian Army General has blamed India's "timid" response to the Pakistani military ingress in Kargil in 1999 for the series of terrorist strikes beginning with the attack on Parliament in 2001.

Al Qaeda's centre of gravity is Pakistan, not Afghanistan, a former top official of the United States Armed forces has told lawmakers.

The attack on the Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi reportedly saved two top officers from being sacked for creating misunderstanding between the Army and the President House, according to a Pakistani daily.

Congressman Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat, and a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who last week slammed the Congressional passage of the massive economic and military largesse to Pakistan to the tune of $1.5 billion annually over five years, as the House dutifully fell in line with the Kerry-Lugar bill passed by the Senate last week tripling the aid to Islamabad, has denounced the Pakistani military's hostility to this aid because it contains some cond

Shrugging aside the recent reports of Pakistan illegally modifying the United States-supplied harpoon missiles to target India and former President Pervez Musharraf's revelations that he diverted the massive American military aid provided to Pakistan to fight the war on terror to the eastern border to bolster his country's defenses for a potential convention conflict with India, the US Senate passed a massive $7.5 billion economic and military largesse to Pakistan.

The New York Times report that Pakistan illegally modified the Harpoon anti-ship missile provided by the United States apparently to bolster its conventional weaponry against India, has embarrassed the Obama administration and Senators John F Kerry and Richard Lugarjust as Washington is poised to provide Islamabad with a massive economic and military largesse of $ 7.5 billion over five years

'With the Chinese behemoth having revved up into a menacing juggernaut, with the US administration indulging Pakistan with billions to buy choicest weapons, our haemorrhaging armed forces are crying to be outfitted with lethal weaponry. Antony has to find ways to bridle red tape and to fast-track acquisitions and upgrades before it is too late.'

United States lawmakers, who attended the annual Sikh American Heritage Dinner on Capitol Hill organized by the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, pledged to support the community's efforts to serve in the armed forces without compromising their religious principles.

Meira Kumar set to become Speaker

Several US lawmakers pledged to support the Sikh community's efforts to serve in the US armed forces without compromising their religious principles.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's New York-based daughter Amrit Singh, who has been one of the fiercest critics of former United States President George W Bush and his administration for its alleged condoning of torture and other abuse of prisoners, on Wednesday turned her guns on President Barack Obama for his decision to fight to block the court-ordered release of photographs of detainee abuse by US troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and several other prisons.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was obviously so impressed by her meetings with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari that she ventured into the White House briefing room after sitting in on the meetings between President Barack Obama and the two leaders, to express her optimism that a solid alliance had been formed committed to crushing the Taliban and other extremist elements destabilising the region.

The spread of the Taliban in Pakistan has senior American officials concerned about the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, including the potential for terrorists to get their hands on a weapon in transport or to infiltrate laboratories and nuclear fuel-production facilities.

As the Barack Obama administration proposes to pump billions of dollars into Pakistan, United States' Congressmen have insisted that Islamabad must be made accountable in lieu of the massive aid. Grilling top army and defense officials, members of the powerful House Armed Services Committee wanted to know from the officials, testifying before it, that the administration has a mechanism to ensure that more than $10 billion being given to Pakistan is not wasted.

A "perturbed" parliamentary committee has asked the defence ministry to immediately work out a plan to correct the "unprecedented" shortage of officers in the armed forces which has reached 23.8, 16.7 and 12.1 per cent in the army, the navy and the air force respectively.

'Already, the Taliban's malign influence is spreading unstoppably into society, and into the army and other vital organs of the State.'

Following is the trascript of President Pratibha Patil's address to the joint sittingof Parliament on Thursday.

The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama has two options to deal with the fallout of the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai: (1) To support, and to garner international backing for, Pakistan's democratically elected leadership in order to enable it to act firmly against terrorist groups on its soil or (2) To designate Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism under United States law.

Participating in the 150-minute long debate on Thursday, Chairman of the UK-India Business Council Lord Karan Bilimoria congratulated Lord Paul on his appointment as the Deputy Speaker of the House and said that Non-Resident Immigrants in Britain were now reaching the top positions in every field.

If Pakistan continues to dilly-dally in bringing the perpetrators to justice and closing down the terrorist camps that operate within its borders, influential US lawmaker Ed Royce says he will lead the fight in the United States Congress to cut the massive military and security assistance to Pakistan.

What must India do, strategically and procedurally, to ensure that the nation does not ever again endure a brutality like the terrorism Mumbai encountered last fortnight? Readers suggest solutions

Expert on internal security B Raman offers a lit of things the government needs to do to prevent terror attacks

From an economic summit to a Detroit bailout, Obama or McCain will have to jump right on the U.S. economic crisis

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp, said, "We are not saying that the F-16s have only a counter-terrorism use. They are obviously a part of Pakistan's national defence and they always have been, and what we have said very confidently is that the sale of these F-16s is not going to upset the regional balance."

With the Bush administration pushing hard for a quick Congressional nod for the landmark India-United States civil nuclear agreement, a small group of senior Democratic lawmakers have demanded the detailed examination of the pact.The three-person group led by Massachussetts Congressman Edward Markey has said that there are many lingering questions about the deal that require further examination and hence the Congress should rule out any rush for an expedited vote.

"In terms of India, in terms of South Asia, you cannot find a more knowledgeable person than Joe Biden. And indeed, right now, the Biden-Lugar legislation on Pakistan is the most important piece of legislation in terms of foreign policy on the Hill. It's trying to reorient our foreign policy toward that country to make it more comprehensive -- not just one that was individual-based and transactional as it was before."

It was one of the most tantalising days in Indian Parliament. Parties debated for and against the nuclear deal. MPs crossed swords, armed with allegations and statistics. As the nation kept glued to the happenings, rediff.com's Prem Panicker gave its readers a blow-by-blow account of what happened. Here is the transcript:

The government will name an under-construction complex for warfare studies in the Delhi Cantonment after Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. "We have decided to rename the Param Vir Complex being constructed at the entrance to Delhi Cantonment as Manekshaw Centre in memory of the iconic military leader," Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor said on Monday.

The ruling Pakistan People's Party on Saturday unveiled a package of sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at curbing President Pervez Musharraf's powers, including those of dissolving parliament and appointing the chiefs of the armed forces. The party, however, remained mum on reinstating judges sacked by Musharraf during emergency last year, an issue that has strained ties with coalition partner Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League N, which quit the cabinet.