India-US Strategic News and Discussion

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 19 May 2011 19:36

Shourie was too young then.

Anyway I notice that conservatives (Republican Party, Fox News, Columnists etc) give Indian-Americans more opportunities than liberals (Democrats, CNN etc.) despite all the MUTUing. And the ones who get a chance on Liberal platform are SLIME types who disparage India and Indic traditions.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 19 May 2011 22:21

^^^I've noticed that too. on the political side, Indians will be accepted in Repub party only if they've converted (ex: Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley). on the economic/journalistic/non-political side, repubs don't mind non-Christian Indians but even here the most vocal are Christian converts like Ramesh Ponnuru and Dinesh D'Souza. but there are other non-Christian Indians who report in Fox News. it's interesting.

on the liberal side, Kiran Chettri in CNN and Sanjay Gupta are the most visible, on the political side, there is nill participation.

my feeling is both sides of the spectrum have their prejudices against Indians, but conversion of heathen tribes remains a powerful force on the conservative side.......but hidden contempt for "hinduism" is hiding just underneath the surface for people of both sides.

somnath · Post by **somnath** » 20 May 2011 07:06

Marten wrote:Not only are you super-imposing your own opinion about someone's article onto APJ's religious beliefs, you are also claiming the opinions of others on this forum are wrong because your own superior comprehension deems APJ agnostic

Given your past track record on either basic awareness of the topic being discussed, or simple english comprehension skills, expect no better. But not being a "cultural muslim" (or a cultural hindu) is not the same as being agnostic...Or that a "muslim" individual may be comfortable with his religion, but not with that being used as an adjective/adverb while describing him...Different concepts...about wht APJ thinks about the description - you have to only read about him, by people like Raj Chengappa and others, to know that...Of course, dont expect you to be that well read..BTW, you dont have to be well read to be civil though...

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 20 May 2011 08:43

Its very clear from a reading of Zakaria's article that he believes an active interest in supporting 'Muslim' causes and working for the interests of the Muslim community is a pre-requisite for terming a person 'Muslim'.

If you actually believe that is a reasonable position, I presume you also think terming Hindu DDM folks who don't actively support the 'Hindu' cause or their analogues on BRF (such as say....um, yourself) as non-Hindus - is a reasonable position to take ? Your opinion on Zakaria's article would indicate you don't have a problem with this.

arun · Post by **arun** » 20 May 2011 10:03

^^^ Marten,

It's hilarious really, the kind of blind uninformed hatred that clouds any analysis

.

Your are right to point out the complete lack of awareness about the difference between bluster and truth not to mention a lack of civility and basic decency .

somnath · Post by **somnath** » 20 May 2011 10:06

Arjun wrote:Its very clear from a reading of Zakaria's article that he believes an active interest in supporting 'Muslim' causes and working for the interests of the Muslim community is a pre-requisite for terming a person 'Muslim'.

If you actually believe that is a reasonable position, I presume you also think terming Hindu DDM folks who don't actively support the 'Hindu' cause or their analogues on BRF (such as say....um, yourself) as non-Hindus - is a reasonable position to take ? Your opinion on Zakaria's article would indicate you don't have a problem with this.

Not a "person", but his public identity...A person might be comfortable with being muslim (or hindu) in his private sphere, but might be at the same time intensely uncomfortable in the religious denomination being part of the adjective defining his public persona...Some others might be comfortable being both...Which is the point that RZ is making - APJ is uncomfortable making his religious identity part of his public interations (the instances of Anjuman-i-islam etc), hence it would be unfair to term him as a "muslim president"...He is a President who might happen to be a muslim (or anything else for that matter)..Or as Azeem Premji is a s/w industralialist who also happens to be muslim (could have been anything else as well), rather than being a muslim industrialist...There should be no problems with having this POV, certainly not to start imputing ulterior motives to the author...

Its a nuance, but a well-understood one, barring perhaps the understanding of the "motivated/converted"? (or perhaps more charitably, the "simple")? Maybe RZ should have understood that there are people around (both motivated and/or simple!)who can misconstrue a description of someone as "not a cultural muslim" as agnostic!

Anyways, enough of this in an "Indo-US thread"..Last from me...

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 20 May 2011 10:25

somnathJi,

leave it aside yaar, lets move on. Save your energy and talent for bigger fish. Let FZ have his glory and fun as a US establishment mouthpiece, he means nothing to India.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 20 May 2011 11:12

This whole discussion about APJ is very Paki. If you read APJ's books, they are full of quotations from Quran and describe instances of him praying in mosques, so where do people get off doubting his "public identity"?

Zakaria & co are just Indian versions of the Zaid Hamid types trying to create a narrower definition of "Muslim" where anyone who doesn't toe their (i.e. Congress party) line is suddenly not a Muslim.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 20 May 2011 15:04

Brahma Chellany tweets

Revelation on failed post-26/11 US move to send ISI chief to India shows US has more diplomatic clout in India than in quasi-failed Pakistan

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 20 May 2011 23:22

Ron Paul says that US foreign policy creates blowback.
This is being debated and slowing the US public being aware of this.

"Some of the other countries look down upon the US
US needs some respect."

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 20 May 2011 23:52

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMmVwW8h4Ho

how do you embed youtube videos on BRF???

check out the reaction of the audience every time Paul finishes his answer......the man can be a serious challenger. the entire Southern Belt from Texas to the Carolinas can vote for Paul, including many mid-western states....things are going to be interesting this time around. Paul might just prove to be the dark horse...

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 20 May 2011 23:55

The politicial pundits don't think much of him for 2012. They bet on Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty.

For me he keeps focus on TSP.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 21 May 2011 00:00

^^^
you're probably right about Romney. US elections have become a money-exchanging enterprise. under these circumstances, Paul will be out cashed by Romney. the corporate wing of US will make sure of that. defense lobbyists, parasitical lawyers' associations, even health insurance companies will heavily fund candidates other than Paul, to make sure he doesn't scratch the surface, in terms of Advertising and spreading his message. he'll still put up a valiant fight though, and will make his message heard, though in the end, he'll still loose.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 21 May 2011 00:03

Am doing my bit while Tea Partying. Low cost emotional support.

UBanerjee · Post by **UBanerjee** » 21 May 2011 06:58

Even if Paul had the financing machine behind him, he wouldn't get elected. He's too principled and his message is too clear. Getting elected to a nation-wide office like the president, in today's 24/7 media-pundit world, necessarily means some degree of compromise of character. E.g. McCain.

Last US principle who generally put principles before votes was TR before the media presidency

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 21 May 2011 09:33

^^^
there are some who contend that JFK was the last American President to truly have independent views and opinions....

Altair · Post by **Altair** » 21 May 2011 10:00

devesh wrote:^^^
there are some who contend that JFK was the last American President to truly have independent views and opinions....

true and was hence fired!(literally)

UBanerjee · Post by **UBanerjee** » 22 May 2011 01:53

I wanted to bring up something which occurred to me- in the long term, there cannot be a US-China G-2 rapprochement. This is because such an arrangement necessarily leaves the US as the junior partner! Remember China is the one situated in the Eurasian heartland- and forming a co-prosperity sphere through trade and immigration with Southeast Asia, Indochina and East Asia. Chinese-born control much of the economic power in Malaysia, Singapore, and other important hubs. Australia will come under overt Chinese sphere instead of US sphere.

If US is marginalized in the Asian heartland it can only be the junior partner- there is no comparable ecosystem in the Americas except bilateral relations with Canada. It will be forced to petition for access to the Chinese sphere on unfavorable terms.

Therefore US-China despite being currently joined at the hip economically must diverge. Their long term interests are incompatible. China will be content with a rapprochement, US will not.

What this means for US-India relations I am not sure. Are Indian long-term aims fundamentally compatible with those of the Chinese. I don't see it as long as China controls Tibet and the water resources. In the long term China can keep the Indian Subcontinent isolated more easily than the US can though both are currently working towards it because of this. India will be forced into a grey zone between the Central Asian periphery and East-Southeast Asia which is already the world's center of economic gravity.

India must form its own ecosystem within East and Southeast Asia. We have to look East as PVNR pointed us not West, which is the route towards failed states and disintegration. This is directly incompatible with Chinese goals but only orthogonally incompatible with US goals. China wants to be the center of gravity of the new Asian order. However the US wants a fragmented Asia without a dominant ecosystem where it can act as the balancing factor, and having India and China compete for the satellites would suit this goal, the more the merrier.

The change in US establishment thinking will be slow because there is tremendous inertia behind the Atlanticist concept in US foreign relations. US has always looked to Europe as the world center of gravity and the Cold War propped this up but that is obsolete. However there are elements in US thinking which have recognized the significance of Asia since the early 19th century and this exactly the reason for the US-Japanese war, and Nixon going to China.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 22 May 2011 03:01

Skimming through Faux news, I just saw tea party Uncle Tom Heram Cain (African Amercian) singing all the wonderful tunes that right wing whites like to hear, no difference between a computerized robot machine making programmed sounds and him

. He provides some good entertainment value

.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 22 May 2011 06:50

UBanerjee wrote:I wanted to bring up something which occurred to me- in the long term, there cannot be a US-China G-2 rapprochement. This is because such an arrangement necessarily leaves the US as the junior partner! ...

What this means for US-India relations I am not sure. Are Indian long-term aims fundamentally compatible with those of the Chinese.

Valid point.

But you should also ask whether Indian long-term aims are compatible with those of western elites. Western elites need a unipolar order in which each state would be administered by what would essentially be a viceroy.

But that does not mean that one cannot cooperate short-term.

Chinese don't compete with India for water (except in the case of the Brahmaputra basin).

UBanerjee · Post by **UBanerjee** » 22 May 2011 07:31

India is a middle riparian state with respect to China and Bangladesh is a lower riparian state. This gives China significant leverage because of the massive, yet fragile, population in the Indian subcontinent, as well as the booming energy and manufacturing demands.

In this respect allowing China to occupy Tibet is a huge strategic blunder that fundamentally alters the relationship between India and China. Also for the schism China has to continue lowering the status of Buddhism as a "feudal primitive superstition" in order to uphold the legitimacy of the Tibetan conquest. Promoting Indic religion now means degrading the Chinese narrative with respect to Tibet. This underscores Chinese desire to "modernize" and accomodate the religion and influence of the West which both Mao and Chiang Kai-Shek accepted. Mao converted to Marxism and Chiang to Christianity.

I consider the likelihood that China will accept status as India's younger brother as in the past to be slim, especially with the rise of race consciousness in Asia. At the very least it will not be peaceful, and Chinese ambitions will require a Japanese style check or a European style long decline that will arc over centuries. Remember when India influenced China and Indochina she was a powerful, dominant civilization (and I mean clearly, not in some deeply buried sense). China will not return to this role simply because we tell them how superior our values are. The past is not a deterministic guide to the future.

There is a long uphill struggle ahead. If we accept that the US cannot willingly accept a subordinate role to the Chinese, they will attempt to check Chinese power with another Asian power, so expect the India card to be played a lot more in the coming few decades. Apart from India, given Japan's malaise, there is no Asian nation with a sufficient gravitational pull to avoid becoming a Chinese satellite. In this India can play one against the other.

The nations within the Chinese periphery would of course love to have more than one daddy they can turn to- remember as a kid how if one parent punishes you, always turn to the other looking for sympathy?

In the long term however- the key to defanging neo-China is to extract Tibet. The other major card is Taiwan- which is why the US has tried its hardest to keep that play alive.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 22 May 2011 09:11

UBanerjee wrote:India is a middle riparian state with respect to China and Bangladesh is a lower riparian state. This gives China significant leverage because of the massive, yet fragile, population in the Indian subcontinent, as well as the booming energy and manufacturing demands.

In this respect allowing China to occupy Tibet is a huge strategic blunder that fundamentally alters the relationship between India and China. Also for the schism China has to continue lowering the status of Buddhism as a "feudal primitive superstition" in order to uphold the legitimacy of the Tibetan conquest. Promoting Indic religion now means degrading the Chinese narrative with respect to Tibet. This underscores Chinese desire to "modernize" and accomodate the religion and influence of the West which both Mao and Chiang Kai-Shek accepted. Mao converted to Marxism and Chiang to Christianity.

I consider the likelihood that China will accept status as India's younger brother as in the past to be slim, especially with the rise of race consciousness in Asia. At the very least it will not be peaceful, and Chinese ambitions will require a Japanese style check or a European style long decline that will arc over centuries. Remember when India influenced China and Indochina she was a powerful, dominant civilization (and I mean clearly, not in some deeply buried sense). China will not return to this role simply because we tell them how superior our values are. The past is not a deterministic guide to the future.

There is a long uphill struggle ahead. If we accept that the US cannot willingly accept a subordinate role to the Chinese, they will attempt to check Chinese power with another Asian power, so expect the India card to be played a lot more in the coming few decades. Apart from India, given Japan's malaise, there is no Asian nation with a sufficient gravitational pull to avoid becoming a Chinese satellite. In this India can play one against the other.

The nations within the Chinese periphery would of course love to have more than one daddy they can turn to- remember as a kid how if one parent punishes you, always turn to the other looking for sympathy?

In the long term however- the key to defanging neo-China is to extract Tibet. The other major card is Taiwan- which is why the US has tried its hardest to keep that play alive.

China is unlikely to disrupt Brahmaputra flows as Bangladesh is much more dependent on them than India, and China would not want to damage relations with Bangladesh in the foreseeable future.

As regards Buddhism, China is already promoting it to an extent. It does not see Buddhism as a threat (unlike Christianity, which is perceived as a threat). But of course suppression in Tibet continues. The picture is mixed.

The only other point you make to suggest that there will be an India vs China split is "race consciousness". I do not think that will be a big issue since the people-to-people interaction is limited, and there is very little diaspora of either nation inside the other.

What I do think will be a problem is the military aggressiveness, as demonstrated by supply of nukes to the Paks, and support to the JuD at the UN.

I agree that India will have to balance between the western elites and China. (Note I do not use the phrase "between the US and China".)

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 24 May 2011 10:22

PM Jawaharlal Nehru: An American Remembrance (some fotus)

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 24 May 2011 21:43

Do Brits think Barack Obama is a bit of a "smart alec"?

The label certainly appears to fit in the minds of British police. Scotland Yard, the UK's police force, has given Obama the security codename 'Chalaque' for his visit this week to the United Kingdom, the UK Daily Mail reports. The term is reportedly a Punjabi word meaning someone who is too clever for his own good, according to the newspaper.

Brits are

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 24 May 2011 22:12

Colonialism is rubbing in. Most people might have thought it was French for new kind of cheese!

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 24 May 2011 22:19

During a Saudi delegation visit, the British guard of honor played "Darth Vader". Singha will remember.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 25 May 2011 12:31

http://www.rediff.com/news/report/india ... 110525.htm

Indian diplomat's daughter to sue NYC, school

An Indian diplomat's daughter is suing New York City's government for USD 1.5 million for what she claims was a wrongful arrest on the suspicion of sending threatening e-mails to two teachers in Queens' John Browne High School.

Batra said that Krittika's more than 24-hour arrest on February 8 was a violation of international law, federal law as well as state and city law. He said that neither Debashish Biswas, father of the girl, nor the Consulate General of India [ Images ], Prabhu Dayal, were informed of the arrest.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 25 May 2011 12:40

ramana wrote:Colonialism is rubbing in. Most people might have thought it was French for new kind of cheese!

They also use CHITTI also very frequently in UK

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 25 May 2011 13:20

What's up with the yanks torturing and insulting Indian diplomats ? Is this the strategic partnership MMS is going gaga about ? I say , put some US diplomat's family in New Delhi in our lockup cells for 24 hours.

GoI need to sueeze a tit or two for the tats.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 25 May 2011 13:47

Biswas alleged that she was not allowed to use the bathroom for a long-time when she was in custody at the 107th precinct. "Eventually, I had to go in front of everyone," Biswas said, referring to a small toilet that was in the cell occupied by other persons.

Dayal stressed, however, that the incident has no bearing on Indo-US relations. "This is an aberration... a wrongful act of local officials," he said.

Indian government should take this seriously and raise concerns about this. This is not merely a mistake. Such a moment is difficult for those who wished to enrich the relations between US and India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/ ... 566590.cms

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 25 May 2011 16:44

the incredible thing is the school and its principal pressed charges against her without evidence and got her arrested, while the guy who was found to have actually done it was free to go because the school didn't press charges against him !

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 26 May 2011 01:23

http://www.corp-corp.com/blog/return-to-india-survey/

Over half of Indian IT professionals may return to India – Survey
Posted by Corp-Corp-CEO | 27, Apr, 2011
Early April, Corp-Corp conducted a survey among Indian IT professionals. More than 1000 professionals responded to this survey. The results show more than half of the Indian IT professionals are planning to return to India.

Survey Highlights

Here are a few quick insights from the survey:

50.1% of the people said that they will be returning to India soon.
6.4% of them have already returned to India and
43% do not have plan to return.
The survey participants includes permanent residents, citizens and Visa holders. The survey results shows 69% of visa holders and 57% permanent residents or citizens are intend to return.

Motivation to Return to India

Here are the key motivating factors for professionals to return to India:

The primary reason (51%) for the return is rejoining their family members in India.
26% of responded that better opportunities in India are the reason for their return.
Only 3% says they are returning due to job loss which is consistent with low unemployment of around 6% in the IT sector even though the generic unemployment is over 8%.
Around 10% are planning their return as they believe better education for their kids in India.
There are about 2 million Indians living in US and many of them hold bachelor or higher degrees. Indians share large percentage in numbers among the PHD holders. Among Asian Indian population around 60% of them are management or professional occupations.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 May 2011 01:25

So maybe Ombaba doesn't have to pull the plug on the H1B's as he was threatening at all!

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 26 May 2011 02:01

What H1-B no one is there in other non-professional categories too from abroad. During my recent visit to the local immigration center, found hardly anyone there. It was deserted with a few stragglers unlike even a few years ago when the whole compound was overflowing with folks from South America with hardly a spot to park oneself. Surely things are changing rapidly in the US.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 May 2011 02:05

Every time he visits the Bay Area for fundraising the radio is agog with lobbyists who want him to cut the quota for software professionals.

Looks like the people are going back without him having to do much.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 May 2011 03:56

X-Post...

Juggi G wrote:India Will Not Join 1,000-Ship Navy Concept

The Indian Navy will not join any multilateral groupings, putting to rest the possibility of Indian participation in the U.S.-mooted concept of a 1,000-ship navy.

Addressing the naval commanders here, Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony ruled out India joining such a group unless it is under a U.N. mandate, said a Defence Ministry statement.

While India will join maritime cooperation in the region against terrorism and piracy, there is no plan to join any broader multilateral grouping, a Defence Ministry official said.

The Remarks by Antony also have cast Doubt on the U.S.-Sponsored

Proliferation Security Initiative,
the Container Security Initiative &
the Regional Maritime Security Initiative,

said a Defence Ministry source.

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 26 May 2011 04:07

joshvajohn wrote:
Biswas alleged that she was not allowed to use the bathroom for a long-time when she was in custody at the 107th precinct. "Eventually, I had to go in front of everyone," Biswas said, referring to a small toilet that was in the cell occupied by other persons.

Dayal stressed, however, that the incident has no bearing on Indo-US relations. "This is an aberration... a wrongful act of local officials," he said.

Indian government should take this seriously and raise concerns about this. This is not merely a mistake. Such a moment is difficult for those who wished to enrich the relations between US and India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/ ... 566590.cms

Let's not get this into a India-US thing. It's India vs NYC. These guys are watching too much Law and Order. They are into videos about perp walks. Well, they goofed big time and they will pay big time. The young lady will sue NYC/ NYPD for $1.5 million plus she gets to sue the school sh*t heads another $1mm or so.

Batra, her lawyer is already asking Bloomie to give her the keys of the city.

GoI should not do anything except ask DoS whether diplo immunity applies to wife (or significant other) of next of US Amb. to India.

Exploit this!

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 26 May 2011 04:49

All,

I had the good fortune to interact with a mid-senior level Phoggy Bottom Babu in DC over the last weekend. He is at South Asia desk, quite heavily involved in negotiations with South Block, accompanied Obama to Delhi last year, etc.

Some random things to report, from his perspective, regarding US-India relations.

1) Roemer did not quit over the MRCA deal. He had been planning to quit for months, as his family did not like staying in India at all.

2) The State Dept impression of Roemer is that he is a very energetic guy but a little A.D.D.; could not focus enough to address any single issue with tenacity. South Block of course, is all about tenacity.

3) US Policy on Pakistan is likely to continue as is, for the most part. Nobody has any better ideas, at least that they're willing to talk about in public. Everything about Pakistani perfidy is known to the State Dept and has been known since 9/11. Various scenarios associated with Paki nukes are considered the biggest area of concern; in effect, my source said, the US is being blackmailed and does not have solutions with a reasonable cost-benefit ratio at present.

4) State Dept usually retains a "hangover" momentum from the previous administration's policies. During the Clinton administration, Clinton himself was generally pro-India, but State Dept was anti-India with cold warriors like Warren Christopher and Madeline Allbright in charge. Today Obama is much less actively pro-India than G.W.Bush was... but State Dept. still retains some of the momentum from the Bush/Rice days of being relatively pro-India. Only Presidents can effect a sea change in policy: State Dept are Babus who are largely in the business of implementing pre-existing policy directives rather than coming up with new ones. However, Presidents see things through the lenses of their priorities, and for Obama, India is not that big a priority as it was for GWB.

5) Important: Regarding Think Tankers/Experts, since we pay so much attention to their writings and pronouncements on BR.

Of all the South Asia experts in the US, five are considered to be top-league. Bruce Reidel, Ashley Tellis, Dan Markey, George Perkovitch and Robert Einhorn.

6) Of these five, Reidel, Tellis and Markey are the ones most often consulted by State Dept. regarding US-India policy.

Ashley Tellis is the most pro-India of them all. I must stress here, that my source told me that Ashley Tellis has done more for positive US policy on India than all the other State Dept. people combined. Whether or not you agree that the Nuclear Deal was a good thing for India, it must be recognized that Ashley Tellis was instrumental in getting it formulated and passed, and that he did this out of the most sincere personal conviction that the Nuclear Deal was a good thing for India.

In short, Ashley Tellis is as much a true son of India as a US-citizen working for the US government can possibly be. Regardless of what we think of the Nuclear Deal, he must be recognized and honoured for this. And the fact that State Dept. continues to consult him is a good sign for India.

7) Reidel and Markey are considered to be "balanced" in their views. Their opinions also carry a lot of weight. In general they are not considered to be anti-India.

8 ) George Perkovitch and Robert Einhorn are considered to be anti-India. The words used to describe Perkovitch: "he is difficult to talk to about India."

The important thing for us to realize, is that the State Dept is aware of their bias and applies a judicious amount of salt to whatever they peddle about India.

Perkovitch and Einhorn are not consulted as much as Tellis, Reidel and Markey on matters regarding India.

9) Despite how much importance we give Stephen Cohen on BRF, he was never considered a pre-eminent South Asia expert by the GOTUS, not even in the same league with the five I have mentioned. Today he is considered a has-been even among circles where he was once respected. The Pakistanis wasted their efforts by feeding him samosas fried by Begum Zia's delicate hands. Other than addressing second-rate media circuses and writing largely unheeded columns, Uneven Cohen is of not much consequence.

10) The above applies ten times as much to C. Christine Fair. The opinion in the State Dept. is that she is a "kook". (sic.) Nobody who matters pays any attention to her at all. She is marginalized, frustrated, dismissed and generally worthless... no wonder she sympathizes so much with the Pakis.

So save your heartburn when you read anything written by Uneven Cohen or Christine Unfair... nobody at State Dept. (let alone the White House) gives a $hit about them.

11) Funny. The babu I spoke to had never even heard of George Friedman or STRATFOR!

Really, sometimes we spend a lot of effort on BRF chasing shadows and confusing their pronouncements with genuine GOTUS opinions on foreign policy.

12) Lastly, Holbrooke is largely considered to have failed in his brief all around. He was consistently stonewalled in India, and the opinion is that he was not the right diplomat for the region.

ManjaM · Post by **ManjaM** » 26 May 2011 05:00

ramana wrote:So maybe Ombaba doesn't have to pull the plug on the H1B's as he was threatening at all!

Saheb, At my company, we have been trying to hire engineers unsuccessfully for over 5 months now. Each requisitions only attracts 2-3 resumes. People with the experience, attitude and education are hard to find, even in this economy.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 26 May 2011 07:06

Rudradev wrote:...
5) Important: Regarding Think Tankers/Experts, since we pay so much attention to their writings and pronouncements on BR.

Of all the South Asia experts in the US, five are considered to be top-league. Bruce Reidel, Ashley Tellis, Dan Markey, George Perkovitch and Robert Einhorn.

6) Of these five, Reidel, Tellis and Markey are the ones most often consulted by State Dept. regarding US-India policy.

...

7) Reidel and Markey are considered to be "balanced" in their views. Their opinions also carry a lot of weight. In general they are not considered to be anti-India.
...

Reidel these days is putting too much stress on resolving Kashmir issue, and is asking for US to pressurize India on this. I would watch out for him. He is not totally "balanced" as the DoS believes.