The US, he said, is working in the G-20 to help build consensus on long-term reforms that will provide the foundation for a more balanced, more stable global economy.
United States President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined the international community in expressing their outrage at the assassination of Pakistan's Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said in a statement that the US report "Avoiding water wars in South and Central Asia," released on February 22, acknowledges that dams India is building in Jammu and Kashmir "will limit supply of water to Pakistan at crucial moments."
After weeks of tense standoff, the United States and Pakistan may be nearing an arrangement to repatriate US official Raymond Davis with the government expected to concede in court that the American qualifies for diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention. The government's counsel is expected to testify on Davis's diplomatic status when the Lahore high court reconvenes on Thursday.
The United States administration on Wednesday sought to address public anger in Pakistan over an American official, who shot and killed two men, by saying that the department of justice will conduct a criminal investigation into the incident despite his diplomatic immunity.
Amid deepening diplomatic stand-off, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday asked Pakistan to follow the Vienna Convention and release American diplomat Raymond Davis, who is facing trial on murder charges.
Senator John Kerry, a close foreign policy aid of United States President Barack Obama, has left for a quick visit to Pakistan amidst strained bilateral ties after Islamabad refused to grant diplomatic immunity to an American official facing murder charges. "Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry left on Monday night for Pakistan where he will meet with senior Pakistan government officials to reaffirm support for the strategic relationship," said his aide.
International diplomats condemned the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, governor of Pakistan's powerful Punjab province and a key aide of President Asif Ali Zardari.
Unveiled by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, four thousand diplomatic cables from the United States embassy in New Delhi reveal a difficult but increasingly warm relationship between India, an emerging power anxious about its security despite its size and increasing wealth, and the US, a superpower that is keen to be friends but very much on its own terms.
Powerful United States senator John Kerry asked Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to present before India Pakistan's plan of action for fighting terrorism if it was "really serious" in resuming Indo-Pak dialogue, but the Premier expressed concern that the public would not support the idea.
Richard Fontaine had an exclusive chat with rediff.com readers on Monday evening where he discussed the presidential visit and the way forward between the two countries, and their respective stands on a range of significant issues -- from the US foreign policy to rise in visa fees.
'We want to see a balance of power be preserved in Asia and as China grows in influence, a stronger India and a stronger India working together with an America that has a presence in Asia is to the good in maintaining that balance,' says Richard Fontaine, the key man behind the recent report, Natural Allies: A Blueprint for the Future of US-India Relations.
Obama hailed the rescue as a tribute not only to the determination of rescue workers and Chilean government, but also the miners and the Chilean people who have inspired the world, the White House said.
Munter, confirmed by the US Senate last week, would replace Anne Paterson in Islamabad.
The US stepped up pressure on Pakistan to get access to disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, accused of proliferating nuke technologies to Iran and North Korea, for questioning.
With Pakistan seeking more international aid following the devastating floods, the Obama Administration and key Congressional leaders are now considering allocating more money under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill that allocated US $ 7.5 billion to Islamabad.
Amid global concerns that terrorists may take advantage of the devastating floods in Pakistan, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), blamed by India for the Mumbai attacks, has claimed that it has received donations for the deluge-hit people from "hundreds" of British-Muslims. The JuD, which acts as a front for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba that carried out the 2008 strikes in Mumbai leaving 166 people dead, is said to have significant support in the UK, The Sunday Times reported.
Addressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, America's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke identified the Lashkar as the group, which planned and executed the 26/11 attacks.
Any hasty withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan could have catastrophic consequences and the active cooperation of Pakistan is a must for comprehensively defeating the Al Qaeda and The Taliban, America's point man for the region Richard Holbrooke has said.He stated that achieving success in the war torn country would involve continued American economic and development assistance.On Pakistan's role, he said, "We cannot succeed in Afghanistan without Pakistan."
Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence-sponsored Haqqani Network, responsible for the killings of United States and coalition troops in Afghanistan and widely believed to have been responsible for the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul a few years ago, is on the verge of being designated a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.
US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has promised "accountability" and "transparency" in America's civilian aid to Pakistan, a fortnight after a top Senator had expressed serious concern that the funds might end up in bank accounts of corrupt politicians and officials of the country.
The massive US civilian aid flowing into Pakistan would be squandered or stolen, a powerful American Senator has said, arguing that rampant corruption in that country would make effective aid distribution a challenge.
The nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan has figured during a Congressional hearing on the New START treaty between the United States and Russia.For the past two days, during hearings on the New START treaty held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lawmakers wanted to know from top US officials and experts about other nuclear weapon countries like India and Pakistan and how it can motivate the two countries to reduce their nuclear stockpile.
Top leaders of the Opposition Republican Party on Friday indicated that they would oppose the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty when it comes for ratification in the United States Senate. Billed as a historic treaty by the ruling Democrats and non-proliferation experts across the world, the New START treaty was signed by President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Prague on Thursday.
Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke on Tuesday said that the Obama administration would soon announce a range of actions for Pakistan in the field of water, energy and security.
Software czar Bill Gates engaged in a large number of social projects in India, has told US lawmakers that the northern parts of the India face difficult challenges.
The US has categorically told Pakistan that it would not get any atomic power plant or civilian nuclear deal on the lines of the one signed with India.
The defence secretary was responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson, a friend of India in the Congress who, of late, has been critical of India deciding to take an independent position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday offered to enhance cooperation with India in the field of intelligence to avert attacks like the Pune blast that could 'further the agenda of terrorists' who were holding the bilateral ties 'hostage.'
Asserting that the Pune's German Bakery blast should not derail the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, one of the key aides of President Barack Obama, Senator John Kerry has said that Washington is ready to assist both countries, and that the long-pending Kashmir issue should not be a 'prerequisite' in the initial conversation.
"We know that Pakistan matters not just because it is the location for the Afghanistan Taliban leadership; it is also important in its own right. It's the base for Al Qaeda, it is a nuclear weapons state with the long-term risk of radicalisation," Miliband said in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which had convened a special hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
India is centrally important for America's success in the Af-Pak region, according to Richard Holbrooke, special United States representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan. "I want to be sure that everyone here recognises how centrally important India will be to this (the US success in Afghanistan and Pakistan)," he told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan convened by the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
There is no doubt that the Al Qaeda has expanded its network to newer areas like Yemen and Somalia, but Pakistan remains its nerve centre, a top American Senator said on Wednesday.
Sending encouraging signal to the rest of the world, a bipartisan group of powerful US Senators on Friday agreed on a framework for a climate change bill.
The Pentagon does not believe that the shaky civilian government of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will be deposed by a military coup anytime soon.United States' Central Command Commander General David Petraeus assured the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that "as one who's been in Pakistan, and had a lot of conversations with military leaders as well as the civilian leadership, I actually don't think that the current challenges imperil civilian rule,".
The Pakistani military has "significantly degraded" the Pakistani Taliban, but is still reluctant to take action against the elements of Afghan Taliban operating from inside its territory, a top US General said on Wednesday.
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.
"The recent arrests here in our own country trace back to Pakistan and trace back certainly in the case of Zazi, directly to an Al Qaeda-originated training camp and training programme. But finally and perhaps most chillingly the fact that Pakistan is a nuclear power raises the stakes enormously," she said.
Al Qaeda is helping and providing assistance to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in launching terrorist attacks in India with the objective of provoking a conflict between India and Pakistan, United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.
"We're dealing with a sovereign country that has a very clear idea of who they think their overall enemy is, namely India, but who has slowly been convinced, because of what's happened inside their own territory, that they have to take action," Clinton told US lawmakers at a Congressional hearing.
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