The nonproliferation lobby is not happy at all with Congressman Howard Berman's bill, which he introduced in the House of Representatives on September 25. Nonproliferation activists feel that their strongest advocate, who had been critical of the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement, has let them down by capitulating to the Bush administration with a piece of legislation, which is a clone of the measure that was approved two days earlier by the Senate Foreign Relat
Even as the United States Senate has scheduled a quick hearing on the India-US nuclear deal, all eyes are on the House of Representatives whose Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, a vocal critic of the pact, is yet to take a call on having a similar process."Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been lobbying furiously for the India deal, which appears to hinge on whether the White House can persuade Republican Howard Berman," said a local paper.
The administration is leaving no stone unturned as it races against time to have the US-India civilian nuclear agreement completed by the Congressional adjournment date of September 26 even if indications are there that the lawmakers may return for a Lame-Duck Session after the November 4 presidential elections.
The Bush administration may fail to save its most trusted friend because the PPP and PML-N are determined to form a coalition and clip all those powers through which a president can dissolve parliament.
Comey states that Trump asked him on several occasions to publicly state that he was not under investigation.
The United States has said that it has broadened the non-proliferation regime by bringing India inside it through the Indo-US nuclear deal.
There was a general discussion during which Republicans welcomed the agreement and Democrats voiced mixed feelings.
Republican Party leaders have denied extending an invitation to Narendra Modi to address Congressional leaders and Indian-Americans via video link next week.
'He needs to control his foot soldiers by taking either stern action against the over enthusiastic members of his group or convince them to stop causing him this embarrassment.' 'We know that most of these leaders are not going to be prosecuted by Indian authorities. So we are seeking alternate means to bring them to justice,' FIACONA President John Prabhudoss tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com
'It is very important for Indian Americans to understand that we need to have as many seats at the table as we can get. I am going to see to it that I am going to get there," Kumar Barve, the longest-serving Indian-American legislator in America, tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
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.
Schaffer said that the recent Supreme Court ruling reinstating the Chief Justice who was fired by Musharraf "...was a serious embarrassment to Musharraf" and also interfered with his "...strategy of seeking re-election later this year."
United States President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American, Richard Rahul Verma, as the next US Ambassador to India, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington later this month.
Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in the United States, the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee under a revised schedule on Tuesday, formally put the US-India civilian nuclear agreement on its agenda and approved it by a margin of 19-2.
'It will take a minor miracle for the deal to beat the clock ticking away in the US Congress, but Abhinav Bindra just proved that the age of miracles isn't over yet.'
The founder of the Republican Hindu Coalition first attracted attention in the US as the "Punjabi tycoon" who was a huge supporter of Narendra Modi in the US. 'He will be best for India. There is no better ally for the US than India in the region,' Shalabh Kumar tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
White House said Trump strongly believed that protecting environment and 'promoting our economy are not mutually exclusive goals'.
Yet another young Indian American Democratic Party activist has been named for United States President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.Parag Mehta, 31, has been named the deputy director of inter-governmental affairs and public liaison of the Obama-Biden transition team, charged with outreach to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other minority groups.His appointment follows close on the heels of the appointments of two Indian Americans.
Berman's bill -- which is in all respects similar to the Senate Committee's Bill that the government of India has found objectionable and offensive -- contains the additional proviso that in the event of a nuclear test by India, which leads to the automatic termination of the deal, the presidential waiver of this termination could be limited.
After weighing all the costs and benefits, the next administration is likely to reduce and restructure assistance to Pakistan but not to end it altogether, says Daniel S Markey.
'India is no longer the India of the '70s and the '80s.' 'It's a large country with the fastest growing economy.' 'In working with India, you just can't go and humiliate the nation publicly.' USIBC President Mukesh Aghi tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com about how he advises American companies to do business with India, what he thinks of Modi's government and the way forward for the India-US relationship.
It is disheartening to see the Bush Administration's efforts to hide more and more information from the public eye in the name of security, presumably to 'protect our freedoms'.
The Berman Bill H R 7081, named after Howard Berman, a Democrat strongly opposed to the deal on non-proliferation grounds and who converted only a couple of days back, was adopted with 298 voting for and 117 against. One lawmaker merely voted present. In a house of 435 members, 416 were represent in which one did not vote. While 120 Democrats voted for the Bill, 107 Democrats voted against. Of the Republicans, 178 voted for and 10 voted against
Unlike the GOP manifesto where the presence of one of the most influential and powerful Republican Indian Americans who served on the Platform Committee and actively participated in the foreign policy deliberations, transforming the original anemic language on India into substantial declarations, the lack of any Indian American Democrats with even a semblance of gravitas on the Democratic Platform Committee has resulted in the original bland language vis-a-vis India being ret
Nearly six months after he nominated Dr Islam A 'Isi' Siddiqui to be the chief agricultural negotiator at the office of the US Trade Representative, US President Barack Obama -- fed up with what the White House called 'obstructionist' policies by Senate Republicans in not confirming Siddiqui and several others -- appointed Siddiqui and 14 others as soon as the Senate adjourned for the Easter vacation-recess.
When we can raise your voice for 2,000 Muslims (the official figures are much less) killed in Gujarat and we should, we must cry from the rooftops for 2.4 million Hindus killed in 1971 or the 250,000 Kashmiri Pandits forced out of their homes in Kashmir. Why do we not?
'There is simply too much bringing us together,' says nuclear proliferation expert Leonard Spector.
Six decades of complaints about 'foreign involvement' in creating unrest in Balochistan has done no good to Pakistan neither have its intermittent military operations in the province. Islamabad has resorted to repressive measures to muzzle the Baloch demand for greater autonomy and right of ownership of its natural resources. This has not worked.