The US is making investments in defence ties with India to uphold a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers Thursday indicating that strengthening ties with New Delhi is one of the key factors to address the pacing challenge from China.
In perhaps what could be his swansong appearance as the Obama administration's point man for South Asia, Robert Blake has acknowledged that the impasse over the implementation of the US-India civilian nuclear deal poses many challenges to Washington and New Delhi.
The latest fan of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to be the American Samoan delegate, Eni Faleomavaega, the ranking Democrat on the house foreign affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, which has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to South Asia. Aziz Haniffa reports.
Frank J Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute of George Washington University, has told the United States Congress that the endemic corruption found in every level on India's law enforcement apparatus is a major impediment to India-US counterterrorism cooperation. Cilluffo said despite the plethora of anti-terrorism initiatives between Washington and Delhi, as well as a host of other mechanisms for cooperation, "a trust deficit encompasses ties".
The Obama administration's point man for counterterrorism, Daniel Benjamin, has said that America's relationship with Pakistan "is very complex," even as Congress has said its patience with Islamabad "is wearing thin."
Congressman Ed Royce, an influential Republican lawmaker, has slammed Pakistan for not shutting down the Deobandi schools that indoctrinate and brainwash people to engage in jihad.
The only Indian American lawmaker in the United States Congress, Dr Amerish 'Ami' Bera, on Tuesday made his debut as a member of a Congressional Committee that has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to South Asia.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said conditioning aid to Pakistan unless it cracks down on the Lashkar-e-Tayiba -- responsible for the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks -- is untenable at the present time.
The United States and India need to stop being suspicions of each other's intentions and deepen intelligence sharing if they are to effectively combat terrorism, a leading South Asia expert and erstwhile Central Intelligence Agency analyst has told the US Congress.
The Republican chairman of the house foreign affairs subcommittee on Asia, on Tuesday questioned the Obama administration's point man on South Asia on India's propensity to vote against the United States at the United Nations, ostensibly taking a swipe at President Obama's endorsement of India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
It's high time to completely rethink the United States relationship with Pakistan because of Islamabad's continuing perfidy of sponsoring terror groups like the Haqqani network and Lakshar-e-Tayiba that targets American troops and kills innocent civilians like the LeT did during the 26/11 attacks, said US Congressman Gary Ackerman, top democrat in the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South Asia.
Lisa Curtis, erstwhile Central Intelligence Agency South Asia analyst and ex-senior Congressional staffer on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has said that the arrest and findings from the investigation of Chicago-based Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative John Coleman Headley, has awakened US officials to the gravity of the threat of the LeT and other Pakistan-based terrorist groups.
New York Democrat Gary Ackerman was arguably considered one of the most cerebral and strategic thinkers on foreign policy. He has been a regular visitor to India and a conspicuous presence at Indian American events and has a daughter-in-law who's Indian American too.
"Tragically," he bemoaned, "neither President Zardari nor former Prime Minister Sharif appear to recognise the scope and seriousness of the crisis that their country is in or of the necessity of setting their personal or party political fortunes aside in order to meet the danger."
Former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Karl F Inderfurth, has told the US Congress that Washington should publicly support India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, arguing that the India's case has never been stronger.
A senior Pentagon official has told the United States Congress that in spite of the threat posed by the Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups, the Pakistani military still views India as its greatest security threat.
US Congressman Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South Asia, Thursday launched a blistering attack on the Pakistani military, accusing it of continuing to tolerate and pander to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the terrorist outfit that carried out the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
An influential US lawmaker, who heads the Congressional Committee that has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the subcontinent, has warned that South Asia poses the greatest terrorist threat to the United States. Congressman Gary L Ackerman, New York Democrat, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, declared, "South Asia is arguably the place from which America faces the greatest terrorist threat."
Senior US lawmaker, Congressman Gary Ackerman, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South Asia, has said that the first step that both Washington and New Delhi has to take in the wake of the horrific Mumbai terror attacks, should be to increase US-India counter-terrorism in tangible ways that encompassed the whole gamut of intelligence sharing to joint special forces training to take on the terrorists and completely destroy them wherever they may be.
Congressman Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, introduced the resolution, which was voted 413-0.
The lawmaker, who was among the authors of the enabling legislation -- called the Hyde Act -- to facilitate the nuclear agreement, said: "The ball is back in your (India's) court. To those who would try to bully from a minority position, to tell the majority of people what is in their national interests and that if they do not do as that group says, that they are being bullied, are themselves the bullies."
Ackerman and many of his colleagues on Capitol Hill have for long questioned the rationale of giving the F-16s to Pakistan as a part of the war on terror. The congressmen now want a comprehensive statement from senior officials about the complete scope of the F-16 programme with Pakistan that include the number of planes, updates made to existing planes, proposed armaments, schedule of delivery and source of payment.
The amendment moved by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher on Friday requires the US Defence Secretary to certify that Pakistan is not using its military to "persecute minority groups for their legitimate and nonviolent political and religious beliefs".
Instead of scrapping excess military equipment in Afghanistan, the United States should sell it to friendly countries like India and Uzbekistan, a top American lawmaker has suggested the Obama administration.
Diplomatic and Congressional sources tell Rediff.com that for all intents and purposes, the F-16 sale is dead.
'This includes increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and the detention of human rights activists and journalists'
Poe alleged that Taliban is still based in Pakistan and it came as no surprise when a US drone strike killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor.
"Selling military hardware to Pakistan -- with a generous subsidy from American taxpayers -- is no way to convince them to become responsible players in the international community and assist in the fight against terrorism," Rand Paul said.
13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian companies have been indicted for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election through social media propaganda.
'We give them a lot of money and they turn that money around and that goes to the bad guys that kill not only folks in America and Afghanistan, but you in India,' says United States Congressman Ted Poe.
'India will come increasingly in the US crosshairs if it insists on maintaining its strategic autonomy, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Narendra Modi will be the first leader to address a joint session of the United States Congress during US House of Representative Speaker Paul Ryan's tenure.
Several American lawmakers have slammed India for failing to condemn Russia's aggression in Ukraine, Russian rebels' downing of flight MH17 and the annexation of Crimea. The leaders also raised the issue of repeated abuse and violence against minorities and women in India. Aziz Haniffa reports.
The Trump regime has informed the Congress that it 'strongly supports' transfers of F-18 and F-16 fighter proposals put forth by Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively.
'Pakistanis are very clever in manipulating us,' former Bush administration official tells US lawmakers.
The President was apparently unaware of the Narendra Modi visa ban controversy till April. Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com has the scoop.
'The US-India relationship is in a different league altogether,' Obama administration officials tell Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
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