India-US Relations : News and Discussion

[anjan]

Your usage of the word as adjective to TN is too f&x8ing stupid and uncalled for. It wasnt just Gus who felt disgusted.

Personally I find the more interesting part about the fatuous comment is the lack of knowledge. The lone BJP MP from TN happens to represent Kanyakumari.

[pankajs]

Saurav Jha @SJha1618 · 24h 24 hours ago

Our 'strategic partner' is focusing heavily on the eastern coast of India. After the failed attempt in BD focus has shifted to TN.

hmm ...

[Manny]

The lone BJP MP from TN happens to represent Kanyakumari.

Interesting.. I am from K.Kumari.

55% of Kanyakumari is Christian. This happened during the last 2 decades. Maybe this is why the BJP has a foot hold there.

BTW..the Church goons murdered and killed one BJP activist recently in Kanyakumari District.

[Shanmukh]

The lone BJP MP from TN happens to represent Kanyakumari.

Interesting.. I am from K.Kumari.

55% of Kanyakumari is Christian. This happened during the last 2 decades. Maybe this is why the BJP has a foot hold there.

BTW..the Church goons murdered and killed one BJP activist recently in Kanyakumari District.

Yes, the Church thugs have been butchering the BJP activists for a very long time, but the rise of Christianity in Kanyakumari goes back to the 19th century. Even in 1981, they formed around 40% of Kanyakumari, and in 2001, they were 44% of Kanyakumari (according to the Census). Has the Christian population risen by 11% in the last decade?

[UlanBatori]

Ppl upset about PB and other examples of apparent yoo ess e-diocy (and that includes me) should read this.

Talk about a Jean ValJean syndrome. They don't think the married ex-President should be prosecuted for getting teenaged interns to give him blowjobs in the Oval Office on taxpayer time, but they have to spend $$M trying to get this old guy extradited for having a roll with a very willing partner some 40 years ago. At least 3 other countries have said at the US in this case, but no message gets through.

[Prem]

http://southasia.foreignpolicy.com/post ... redirect=0

he U.S.-India strategic partnership is often discussed in lofty terms. Both countries, in their own words, are “natural allies” bound by shared values and a broad-brush convergence of strategic visions. Bilateral relations have been on a steady upswing over the last 15 years. But the greatest champions of a deepened embrace remain frustrated by an enduring challenge: India and the United States agree in large part on desirable foreign policy ends, but fail to see eye-to-eye on the appropriate means to achieve those outcomes. To maximize the partnership’s potential, both countries must continue to adjust to each other’s fundamentally different operational philosophies and identify new areas of convergence. With the Modi government just past the six-month mark in power, there are both encouraging signs and indications that philosophical differences will not be quick to disappear.
The view from 10,000 feet looks similar in both capitals. The world’s oldest and largest democracies share a deeply rooted love for republican government and a conviction that societies thrive on openness and cultural commingling. Both are preoccupied with “Islamic” terrorists and wish to see such groups weakened militarily and discredited ideologically. Both governments value a global economy built on open markets and interdependence. Both claim to seek multilateral solutions to global problems. And both see in the other an important security partner that can help to manage China’s rise. Indian foreign policy, as is true in most countries, reflects a mix of philosophical traditions. International relations scholar Kanti Bajpai identifies three broad ideological camps – the Nehruvians, the neoliberals, and the hyper-realists. After Prime Minister Modi’s election, the realists (emphasizing hard power) and the neoliberals (emphasizing economic growth and interdependence) have grown stronger, while the Nehruvian influence (promoting dialogue and communication) has somewhat waned. . Modi’s government favors more visible projections of India’s military power, including during border disputes with China and Pakistan. Modi has also demonstrated his intent to build closer economic and security relationships with a long list of countries – including Japan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Vietnam – that can help India balance China’s rise and limit its sphere of influence around India. The United States should be encouraged by India’s desire to challenge Chinese primacy in Asia.
But it is no secret that New Delhi and Washington differ on many other issues. New Delhi’s foreign policy has long embraced three operational principles that place India in tension with the United States. First, India is staunchly anti-interventionist outside the subcontinent. Second, India is skeptical of multilateral institutions that reflect grand bargains privileging Western powers. Third, India is cautious about veering too close to strategic dependence on any one country. These precepts have created important disagreements on issues the United States considers urgent. No region better illustrates the operational differences between New Delhi and Washington than the Middle East. India shied away from U.S. initiatives to promote democracy long before such efforts reached a crescendo during the George W. Bush administration. In India’s view, the non-intervention principle should be relaxed only in rare cases of overwhelming U.N. approval. Modern India inherited a strongly anti-imperial tradition and remains deeply skeptical of the notion that nations can transform political realities beyond their own borders. ISIS has also failed to inspire close convergence. While India worries about the advance of ISIS into South Asia and has been vocal about counterterrorism cooperation, India is notably absent from a list of sixty-odd countries working with the United States in Iraq and Syria. New Delhi is unwilling to project military power in the Middle East because it believes that intervention produces uncertain results apart from an increased likelihood of terrorist backlash. On Iran, India faces an interesting opportunity. The United States and Iran have increasingly identified areas of convergence, inspiring optimism among some U.S. officials. This greater alignment in U.S.-Iranian interests provides India with an opportunity to position itself as a natural convener (not a formal mediator) of deeper dialogue among all three countries. Such an initiative could improve India’s influence with both countries and demonstrate a distinctly Indian brand of global leadership.
An Asymmetric Commitment?
Persistent operational disagreements and India’s wariness of entering the U.S. strategic orbit have sometimes contributed to an American perception that India is less invested than the United States in the bilateral relationship. This sense of imbalance is rooted in structural realities. Weary after thirteen years of war, the United States seeks strategic partners that can share its global security and economic burdens. India, meanwhile, enjoys strong relationships with the United States, the European Union, Russia, Japan, and, in many ways, China. Under Modi, India is basking in the renewed courtship of a long line of economic suitors. All of this leaves New Delhi as confident as ever that its foreign policy need not skew toward serving any one country. American leaders appreciate India’s aversion to playing the role of a “junior partner.” But the United States has been frustrated by India’s unwillingness to engage in geopolitical quid pro quo. Some in Washington might feel that U.S. advocacy for India on big issues – support for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat and the conclusion of a landmark civilian nuclear deal – has not been reciprocated in kind. But India is prepared to drive a hard bargain. It will not shoulder global burdens for the United States unless the gains are clear. American observers have often found India’s reluctance unbecoming a global leader. India might respond that its restraint is rooted in self-interest and a pragmatism of which George Washington himself would approve. It is thus unsurprising that Modi’s recent visit to the United States focused more on commercial ties than geopolitics. This emphasis reflects both the continued ascendance of neoliberalism in New Delhi and a sense that the scope of non-economic partnership is limited to modest increases in areas like security cooperation and intelligence sharing. Washington, it seems, has also resigned itself to incremental strategic progress with India. To some extent, setting a gradual pace makes sense. As India grows economically and militarily stronger, and as the United States continues to adjust to a multipolar world, zones of convergence are likely to increase. But there are opportunities to deepen engagement now – on Iran and climate change, for example – where relatively low-risk Indian efforts could yield substantial returns. India could do more to demonstrate a conviction that the partnership can sometimes tackle urgent global challenges. Modi’s bolder brand of leadership might yet create opportunities to align grand shared values with correspondingly grand actions.

[Manny]

What the US needs to be thankful for with India is, India would not be an enemy of the US!

Period!

That is a a lot!

The fact a country of 1.3Billion is not your enemy is something Americans ought to be thankful for, this Thanksgiving while munching on their Turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce!

[UlanBatori]

Manny, that may not be how the turkeys think..

Imagine what 1.x billion new targets would do to that!

[ramana]

Maybe thankful, Columbus was looking for a way to reach India?

[krithivas]

Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical)'s mass murderer CEO Warren Anderson finally died. This SOB had a long life while thousands of lives were cut short in Bhopal. British Petroleum created a $42.2 billion trust fund to assist those affected by Gulf of Mexico oil spill where no life was lost on land, where as Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) paid a paltry $400 million for approximately 16,000 Indian lives lost.

[kmkraoind]

US could not even commit a $1 billion loan guarantee when Modi came: Kerry

“Both of whom gave him double-digit numbers of billions of dollars for infrastructure development. China, I think, did USD 30 billion; Japan did somewhere similar…but more,” Kerry said.

“How did we do?’ he was asked.

“We couldn’t even do a USD 1 billion loan guarantee, the United States of America. Now everybody here ought to be shocked by that. We are behaving like we’re the richest country on the face of the planet. We’re still critical to everything that happens in the world. And we are not sufficiently committing the resources necessary to do what we need to do in this world,” Kerry said.

Countries are flexing their muscles and standing up for their own interests and they have some greater economic independence and ability to do it.

“Then you see the BRICS – Brazil, China, India – standing up and saying – Russia – we want something – a different access, in a sense. So we have to work harder at it. And my warning to the Congress and to the country is, really, this doesn’t come for free,” Kerry said.

Interesting perspective, is Kerry more worried about not extending a hand to India or something else.

[Pratyush]

He is worried about the loss of US position in the world. BRICS, has 2 members that can easily replace the US as the superpower. A 3 rd has the ability to do with a lot of effort.

If the 3 can cooperate on a consistent basis, influence of US in the world will be gone. That is what he is worried about. Inability to extend a hand to India is a symptom of the problem. That US can be made irrelevant in the grand scheme of thing is this goes on for much longer.

[habal]

there is a threat to US that financial elite may abandon US and become parasite on new host aka BRIC host.

[Paul]

Saurav Jha @SJha1618 · Oct 31
Our 'strategic partner' is focusing heavily on the eastern coast of India. After the failed attempt in BD focus has shifted to TN.
More

[putnanja]

US could not even commit a $1 billion loan guarantee when Modi came: Kerry

“Both of whom gave him double-digit numbers of billions of dollars for infrastructure development. China, I think, did USD 30 billion; Japan did somewhere similar…but more,” Kerry said.

“How did we do?’ he was asked.

“We couldn’t even do a USD 1 billion loan guarantee, the United States of America. Now everybody here ought to be shocked by that. We are behaving like we’re the richest country on the face of the planet. We’re still critical to everything that happens in the world. And we are not sufficiently committing the resources necessary to do what we need to do in this world,” Kerry said.

Countries are flexing their muscles and standing up for their own interests and they have some greater economic independence and ability to do it.

“Then you see the BRICS – Brazil, China, India – standing up and saying – Russia – we want something – a different access, in a sense. So we have to work harder at it. And my warning to the Congress and to the country is, really, this doesn’t come for free,” Kerry said.

Interesting perspective, is Kerry more worried about not extending a hand to India or something else.

It is more about buying influence. In many places in Africa, China is investing billions to develop mines etc and their governments are indebted to them. And will find it hard to say no to China than to US. Look at how South Africa refused visa to Dalai Lama due to Chinese pressure.

It is this leverage that the US is losing now. Earlier, it used to be mainly western companies that would invest in these countries and US aid also mattered. The US aid has gone down comparitively, and Chinese investments are an order of magnitude greater. It is something that the US is now worried about.

[Prem]

US could not even commit a $1 billion loan guarantee when Modi came: Kerry

“Both of whom gave him double-digit numbers of billions of dollars for infrastructure development. China, I think, did USD 30 billion; Japan did somewhere similar…but more,” Kerry said.How did we do?’ he was asked.“We couldn’t even do a USD 1 billion loan guarantee, the United States of America. Now everybody here ought to be shocked by that. We are behaving like we’re the richest country on the face of the planet. We’re still critical to everything that happens in the world. And we are not sufficiently committing the resources necessary to do what we need to do in this world,” Kerry saidInteresting perspective, is Kerry more worried about not extending a hand to India or something else.

Not that India need "pillion" dollar, but couple of Billions for Puukers will be brought in caaash on C17.
Money is available for all the destructive , interruptive measures but not for constructive and development purpose. This is nothing but messed up priorities which keep the blowback paradigm going. Something fundamental and inherently wrong with policy making and makers to not to realize the great waste. OTOH, He might be signaling to bosom Mittras, look, we did not give anything etc.

[ramana]

Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical)'s mass murderer CEO Warren Anderson finally died. This SOB had a long life while thousands of lives were cut short in Bhopal. British Petroleum created a $42.2 billion trust fund to assist those affected by Gulf of Mexico oil spill where no life was lost on land, where as Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) paid a paltry $400 million for approximately 16,000 Indian lives lost.

You can thank Rajiv Gandhi for that paltry amount most of which has not even been disbursed as it is held up in red tape.RG settled for this.

[chetak]

Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical)'s mass murderer CEO Warren Anderson finally died. This SOB had a long life while thousands of lives were cut short in Bhopal. British Petroleum created a $42.2 billion trust fund to assist those affected by Gulf of Mexico oil spill where no life was lost on land, where as Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) paid a paltry $400 million for approximately 16,000 Indian lives lost.

You can thank Rajiv Gandhi for that paltry amount most of which has not even been disbursed as it is held up in red tape.RG settled for this.

Don't mean to rile anyone or troll, but WTF was the local India based management of Union Carbide doing and why were they let off??

Were not local operational and maintenance issues their responsibility??

[member_24684]

Your usage of the word as adjective to TN is too f&x8ing stupid and uncalled for. It wasnt just Gus who felt disgusted.

Personally I find the more interesting part about the fatuous comment is the lack of knowledge. The lone BJP MP from TN happens to represent Kanyakumari.

damn what's you Talking about My MP

[svenkat]

deleting-no need for self goal.prahaarji,request you to delete as well.I will take this to OT thread.

[svinayak]

Here is the SUMMARY of Manoj Mitta event @ Stanford:


1. Manoj Mitta - author of the book "The fiction of fact finding" is on a tour of US universities arguing that the SIT on 2002 riots was biased in its reports and there is evidence that Modi was indeed complicit in protecting riot victims. His tour spans Stanford, University of Berkeley California, University of New York, Univ Massachussets etc. Manoj Mitta event was organized at, and in collaboration with the Stanford Law School.
Other key observations from the event:
a) Manoj Mitta is in the US, because he was asked by the US Congressional Committee to testify regarding the 1984 riots(anniversary?);
b) The Stanford Law School has collaborated with him in putting together a report that is critical about the functioning of government and judiciary, especially in the way the whole Gujarat 2002 riots was handled.

2. At Stanford there was an event to bash and malign Veer Savarkar as a Hindu fundamentalist.
Read more: http://events.stanford.edu/events/454/45407/


The event was supposed to be a book launch of "The fiction of Fact Finding: 1984 and 2002". It was arranged by the Stanford Law School.

Summary of the book/and agenda (based on Mitta's talk):
1) 1984 riots happened, Rajiv Gandhi came to power based on violence unleashed on a minority, nothing was done till 2001. No one was there to challenge the ruling dispensation, and the guilty were never brought to justice.
2) 2002 riots happened, Modi really became well known and is now prime minister thanks to what happened in 2002
3) Modi is guilty because while the Gulberg society massacre happened between 3 and 3.45 pm, Modi claimed he did not know anything about it till 8.30 pm and he kept out all references to killing of muslims in his public address at 6pm; this inspite of the fact that police wireless had information about the Gulberg (& Naroda patiya) incidents.
4) SIT is a fact finding body, and while they did good work in questioning Modi, they did not probe him enough regarding why he did not take timely action for Gulberg/Naroda patiya incidents.
5) Modi was shamed by the Supreme Court by moving Best Bakery case out of Gujarat into Maharashtra. Maya Kodnani was found guilty and now that Modi has come to power at the center she is out.
6) It is questionable as to whether the Godhra incident was a terrorist incident and whether the people who died were indeed innocent kar sevaks as was made out to be; for in retrospect, the witnesses were all VHP members and discredited by the SIT. All the accused muslims have been released for want of evidence. Modi benefited from the incident and never lost an election after that.
7) Modi has not been cleared by the courts. Only the District Magistrate has accepted the closure report of the SIT; He has not been cleared by the Supreme Court as is generally made out to be. There is still judicial process left, and room for appeals before he can be cleared
Judicial process is being hijacked, we in the media/intelligentsia should make it known that he is guilty and do everything to ensure that he is held responsible for it; Modi should not get away like the 1984 riot perpetrators

[pankajs]

Edit and delete the content ..

[Philip]

Manny,that assurance is worth at least a trillion in aid not just a loan.Imagine if India harboured enmity against the US and allowed all manner of scumbags to use our soil to plot and plan attacks against the US as the Pakis have done.,it would be a thousand 9/11s by now!

JoKerry has suddenly had a stroke of wisdom with his statement that the US can't even come up with a measly peanut of a billion when other nations have committed so much. The US is a waning superpower that is going to be sidelined more and more in the coming decades.Its internal contradictions with racism and inequality rife and growing steadily is going to tear it apart in the future.It has lost the stomach to figth and the mroal courage to challenge the ungodly around the world.The latest bombings of ISIS ,etc. are the last gasps of the O'Bomber era.

[Neela]

Interesting.. I am from K.Kumari.
55% of Kanyakumari is Christian. This happened during the last 2 decades. Maybe this is why the BJP has a foot hold there.
BTW..the Church goons murdered and killed one BJP activist recently in Kanyakumari District.

Yes, the Church thugs have been butchering the BJP activists for a very long time, but the rise of Christianity in Kanyakumari goes back to the 19th century. Even in 1981, they formed around 40% of Kanyakumari, and in 2001, they were 44% of Kanyakumari (according to the Census). Has the Christian population risen by 11% in the last decade?

Growth of 11% in 3 decades is not surprising. I grew up near the Singampatti Zamindar forest (~50km from Kanyakumari) and I have seen the change there .
And I was there during the Christian riots as well . The MGR -instituted Justice Venugopal committee report recommended measures to stop unbridled building of churches did little to check proselytizing . It also put the blame partly on RSS for asking its cadres to stand up for themselves. BTW, there are several 100 requests to build new churches in Kanyakumari pending with the district administration.
And the church there is also actively involved in protests. Their idea is to project that the Centre is with Sri Lanka when Tamil fishermen suffer from SL govt atrocities.

Saurav Jha @SJha1618 · 24h 24 hours ago
Our 'strategic partner' is focusing heavily on the eastern coast of India. After the failed attempt in BD focus has shifted to TN.

And that is precisely what I have said in the previous page. Koodankulam protests was a prototype. The media attention it got worldwide was well coordinated. It will be used as a source to trouble the government in the future.
Gus,
_I_ dont discriminate with languages. . You took an unintended bait, cry sacrilege while indulging in it , and start acting muttawa. No beef with with you.
The words in contention had its origins in the MOdi vs Dynasty thread and were intended for someone else. If I recall correctly, it was before Modi visited Trichy as part of his campaign. Kanyakumari outcome was well known then. Search is your friend. My last on this.

[pankajs]

TIMES NOW ‏@timesnow 10m10 minutes ago

A US appeals court will on December 2 hear 1984 Sikh rights violation case filed by a rights group against the Congress Party--PTI

[Roperia]

US DoD, in its biannual report to the Congress, says that Pakis are harboring terrorists to fight the superior Indian army.

Pakistan using militants as proxies to counter superior Indian Army: Pentagon

[Roperia]

In other news, Republicans have won the Senate and now have an even larger majority in House.

President Obama will/can only do stuff now that Republicans will pass.

[pankajs]

Ombaba does have some executive authority that he can use in defiance of the Congress but it will lead to a massive fight with the newly elected body. He is lame duck otherwise.

Will be interesting to watch his take on the Hispanic deportation issue now that the elections are over. However, If the newly emboldened Republican party tries to ram through some divisive measures to please it base, which is very likely, it will make for a very interesting 2016 Presidential elections.

[KLNMurthy]

Nicholas Burns wants an Indian poodle to supplement the British one.

Americans can't seem to think beyond that. They want India to be the Gurkha battalion for their stupid policies. The question we should be asking is, in all the instances Burns mentioned, is the US willing to follow India's much more sensible policy lead?

[KLNMurthy]

...

Don't mean to rile anyone or troll, but WTF was the local India based management of Union Carbide doing and why were they let off??

Were not local operational and maintenance issues their responsibility??

IIRC Union Carbide back then in the socialist days was one of the few corporations allowed to own > 50% equity, and major decisions, having to do with safety systems and training, came down from the Carbide corporate offices stateside.

The one huge culpable entity that never got touched was the then Madhya Pradesh government headed by Arjun Singh which simply didn't bother to do the mandated safety inspections, despite a local Hindi language newsletter screaming its head off about a disaster waiting to happen. I believe a movie is in the offing now about the editor of that newsletter, "saptahik rapat"(weekly report) or something like that.

The other scoundrel was then Supreme Court Chief Justice Ahmadi who approved the 400M deal and, after retirement, managed to get himself appointed as the administrator of that trust.

Can't believe it's been 30 years since that heart-sinking day on December 3rd and its even more toxic aftermath. I never again want to feel the way I felt that day on hearing the news. Indira Gandhi's assassination (brought on by her own stupidity and vanity), followed by the Sikh killings and then the Gas Attack, all made for an annus horribilis.

You won't hear it said much, but the Zahreeli Gas episode was probably the single largest killer of Muslims in India since Partition.

[KLNMurthy]

...
3) Modi is guilty because while the Gulberg society massacre happened between 3 and 3.45 pm, Modi claimed he did not know anything about it till 8.30 pm and he kept out all references to killing of muslims in his public address at 6pm; this inspite of the fact that police wireless had information about the Gulberg (& Naroda patiya) incidents.
...

This is one of those things that is strutted about with an air of "gotcha". The claim that the 4-hour time gap means something only makes sense if we have any kind of baseline data about how long it usually takes knowledge of one particular incident in a highly complex set of riots during which administrative machinery is overwhelmed. And yes, it was probably also a situation in which many, not all, of the police might have made a decision to delay action for their own reasons. Does this Mitta guy have any comparison data?

[UlanBatori]

Pakistan using militants as proxies to counter superior Indian Army: Pentagon

This is laughably nonsensical report. HOW can there be a "superior" Indian Army, superior to Pakistani Army? Everyone knows that 1 Paki = 10 sdre yindoos.

[Shreeman]

Pakistan using militants as proxies to counter superior Indian Army: Pentagon

This is laughably nonsensical report. HOW can there be a "superior" Indian Army, superior to Pakistani Army? Everyone knows that 1 Paki = 10 sdre yindoos.

How else do you justify giving them MRAP vehicles, if they are not rag tag, toyota bearing, mountainous region bogged, conservative, numerically challanged, middle eastern people?

[UlanBatori]

What would MRAP do? they need AEGIS destroyers, to cruise the vast Indus and Swat Valley (in monsoon time).

[Agnimitra]

Heartwarming stuff. Long-time anti-India eggspurt within the US policy machine, motorma Robin Raphael, is under the lens for spying...

WaPo: U.S. diplomat and longtime Pakistan expert under federal investigation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nat ... .0_strip_1

A veteran State Department diplomat and longtime Pakistan expert is under federal investigation as part of a counterintelligence probe and has had her security clearances withdrawn, according to U.S. officials.

The FBI searched the Northwest Washington home of Robin L. Raphel last month, and her State Department office was also examined and sealed, officials said. Raphel, a fixture in Washington’s diplomatic and think-tank circles, was placed on administrative leave last month, and her contract with the State Department was allowed to expire this week.

Two U.S. officials described the investigation as a counterintelligence matter, which typically involves allegations of spying on behalf of foreign governments. The exact nature of the investigation involving Raphel remains unclear. She has not been charged.
...
Although Raphel has spent much of her career on Pakistan issues, it was unknown whether the investigation, being run by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, was related to her work with that country.

At the time of the raid, Raphel was a senior adviser on Pakistan for the office of the special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan. In that job, she was chiefly responsible for administering nonmilitary aid such as U.S. economic grants and incentives.

The 67-year-old longtime diplomat was among the U.S. government’s most senior advisers on Pakistan and South Asian issues. She is a former assistant secretary of state for South Asia and a former ambassador to Tunisia. At the time of the FBI search of her house, she had retired from the foreign service but was working for the State Department on renewable, limited contracts that depended in part on her secret clearances.

Arnold Raphel was U.S. ambassador to Pakistan when he was killed aboard a plane carrying then-Pakistani President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq in 1988. The cause of the mysterious plane crash has never been proved but is widely assumed to have been an assassination plot against the military dictator.

Robin Raphel was divorced from Arnold Raphel when he died. She was then a State Department political officer serving in South Africa but had spent earlier portions of her career in Pakistan. She was also posted in Washington, Britain, India and elsewhere. Then-president Bill Clinton named her as the first assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs in 1993.

Raphel began her government career as a CIA analyst, according to a State Department biography. She served 30 years in the foreign service and retired from the State Department in 2005. She returned to the State Department in 2009 to work as an adviser to Richard Holbrooke, who had been named by then-secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton to the new post of special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Prior to returning to the State Department, Raphel worked as a lobbyist for Cassidy & Associates, a Washington-based government relations firm. She represented Pakistan, Equatorial Guinea and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government, according to federal disclosure forms.

Spy cases involving State Department officials are relatively rare. In the last major case, a former State Department official was sentenced to life in 2010 after he and his wife were convicted on charges of spying for Cuba over three decades. She received nearly seven years in prison.

[A_Gupta]

Republican Senate might be good for India - an American view:
http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2014/11/05/wh ... for-india/

[Prem]

Heartwarming stuff. Long-time anti-India eggspurt within the US policy machine, motorma Robin Raphael, is under the lens for spying...

WaPo: U.S. diplomat and longtime Pakistan expert under federal investigation
A veteran State Department diplomat and longtime Pakistan expert is under federal investigation as part of a counterintelligence probe and has had her security clearances withdrawn, according to U.S. officials.

Hopefully they are investigating her links with AfPak characters involved in Nine One One.

[Kashi]

Republican Senate might be good for India - an American view:
http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2014/11/05/wh ... for-india/

Hardly think so. When it comes to India, both Dems and Repubs are united in what they want from us- to be a poodle.

[member_24684]

Republican Senate might be good for India - an American view:
http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2014/11/05/wh ... for-india/

Hardly think so. When it comes to India, both Dems and Repubs are united in what they want from us- to be a poodle.

But Doctrine with China ..!!

[Skanda]

U.S. diplomat and longtime Pakistan expert is under federal investigation

A veteran State Department diplomat and longtime Pakistan expert is under federal investigation as part of a counterintelligence probe and has had her security clearances withdrawn, according to U.S. officials.

The FBI searched the Northwest Washington home of Robin L. Raphel last month, and her State Department office was also examined and sealed, officials said. Raphel, a fixture in Washington’s diplomatic and think-tank circles, was placed on administrative leave last month, and her contract with the State Department was allowed to expire this week.

Two U.S. officials described the investigation as a counterintelligence matter, which typically involves allegations of spying on behalf of foreign governments. The exact nature of the investigation involving Raphel remains unclear. She has not been charged.