India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

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Mort Walker
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Mort Walker »

No one reads the NYT, Post or listens to NPR. It is the TV media in India and the west which are real culprits. They get cranks like A. Roy, B. Dutt, and Rana Ayyub as their guides. It's pretty simple, if such people are Indian citizens, then their passports are revoked or not renewed. If they are foreign nationals, then their visas get cancelled.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Cain Marko »

Jay wrote:
arshyam wrote:Agreed, the slant in coverage is almost axiomatic, that's why I am asking Jay saar to back up his assertions.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/worl ... erals.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/worl ... south.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/us/c ... -home.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyre ... odies.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... ter-morgue

https://nypost.com/2020/03/30/disturbin ... -hospital/

Point is when the Covid hit in 2020, March, and April were filled with doom and gloom from NYC, and Italy. Then later for a week or two it was Brazil that took the brunt. Now it's India's turn. Yes, it feels like we are under the microscope and yes we are. But it's in mostly in proportion to our country's size, influence, and Politics too. Let the dogs bark...there is no need to shrivel from the criticism, and if we have the means to counter the narrative, then let's do it. All this gnashing, and hand wringing over something that will be forgotten when the next round of crisis flares up somewhere in a few weeks is counter productive.
Agreed. It is time to grow a thicker skin. Who gives a damn what NPR says - POS outlet is likely bought off by Chinise agints anyway.

Having said this, I do believe GOI can do much more in terms of carrot and sticks to control the narrative. It is too passive when it comes to India's coverage in the international media. Need to buy off some special correspondents in influential media rags/outlets.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by darshan »

Hindu Sect Known as BAPS is Accused of Using Forced Labor to Build New Jersey Temple
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/nyre ... -baps.html
Federal agents descended on the massive temple in Robbinsville, N.J., as a lawsuit charged that low-caste men had been lured from India to work for about $1 an hour.
....
Lawyers for the workers said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a Hindu sect known as BAPS that has close ties to India’s ruling party and has built temples around the world, had exploited possibly hundreds of low-caste men in the yearslong construction project.
....
The organization has strong ties with Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Modi has said that Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual head who built BAPS into the largest Hindu sect in the United States before dying in 2016, was his mentor. Mr. Modi gave a eulogy at his funeral and laid the foundation stone for a temple that BAPS is building in Abu Dhabi.

The organization also pledged the equivalent of about $290,000 to Mr. Modi’s most important election promise: building a temple in the city of Ayodhya, where a mosque had stood before Hindu devotees destroyed it in 1992. The destruction of the Babri Mosque set off waves of sectarian violence, and the construction of the temple in Ayodhya is a significant step in the quest by Mr. Modi and his party to shift India from its secular foundations toward a Hindu identity.
....
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by shravanp »

They linked it Modi. Definitely propaganda driven agenda.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Ambar »

Sounds like Devyani Khobragade case all over again. How do you even bring these supposed "low caste" $1/hr men from India when those with multiple masters degrees find it hard to obtain or renew their visas ?
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by chanakyaa »

The above link is behind the paywall, but articles from other sources are saying that the workers were brought under R-1 visas as religious workers.

From USCIS,
R-1 Nonimmigrant Religious Workers

An R-1 nonimmigrant is an alien who is coming to the United States temporarily to work at least part time (an average of at least 20 hours per week) as a minister or in a religious vocation or occupation and be employed by a:
  1. Non-profit religious organization in the United States;
    Religious organization that is authorized by a group tax exemption holder to use its group tax exemption; or
    Non-profit organization which is affiliated with a religious denomination in the United States.
To qualify, you must have been a member of a religious denomination having a bona fide non-profit religious organization in the United States for at least two years immediately before filing the petition.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Rudradev »

Watch: panel on "caste" being used as a weapon to attack Hindus in North America. By CoHNA.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... %2As%2As-R
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Mort Walker »

^^^No surprise. The current US regime supporters are organizing their campaign for an eventual Hindu genocide in North America.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Rudradev »

Please. It's not just the "current regime supporters" impelling Hindu genocide, not by a long shot.

The Christian Evangelicals are much more deeply involved, as the USCIRF (under Trump's appointee, Tony Perkins) has repeatedly demonstrated with its renewed initiatives of aggression against Modi's India.

In fact, it is Republican Evangelical groups who have amplified their funding of caste-baiting agitators like Equality Labs & Kancha Ilaiah with a vengeance, ever since FCRA enforcement makes it harder for them to funnel cash to India.

Supporting Republicans to solve this problem is like giving yourself cancer to cure your diabetes.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by chetak »

Ambar wrote:Sounds like Devyani Khobragade case all over again. How do you even bring these supposed "low caste" $1/hr men from India when those with multiple masters degrees find it hard to obtain or renew their visas ?
does it even strike anyone that deviani khobragade got exactly what she deserved.

a congi + onion merchant clique shoehorned this entitled "diplomat" into the embassy in the US

In the MEA, her personnel file had long been flagged as "political".

her snaky slither downwards from "big chief, no shit" to "big shit, no chief" was remarkably rapid despite her father's agonized squeals when his outraged demands for India to nuke the US was turned down.

BTW, khobragade's father, uttam khobragade, was an officer in the Indian administrative service. he was also implicated in a number of corruption scandals. This paragon of virtue's last resort was politics, befitting his reputation, expertise in pilfering and recognizing his life long extractive endeavors as a double distilled, twice born and fragrantly anointed public servant.

read her wiki entry. It is very revealing and shows how an otherwise mediocre babooze becomes supercharged because of "entitlement".

jaisi karni waisi bharni (English: for whatever one sows, that will (s)he also reap, Galatians 6:7 ESV / 20)
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Haresh »

darshan wrote:Hindu Sect Known as BAPS is Accused of Using Forced Labor to Build New Jersey Temple
This will obviously be investigated.

There was something similar that happened in London, when the Shri Sanatan Hindu Temple in Wembley was built.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-lon ... 4-20213990

The company employing them did admit to what they were doing was illegal and paid back pay and compensation.

Let's be honest, Indians do exploit Indians.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/dec ... vanvasagar
arshyam
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by arshyam »

chetak wrote:
Ambar wrote:Sounds like Devyani Khobragade case all over again. How do you even bring these supposed "low caste" $1/hr men from India when those with multiple masters degrees find it hard to obtain or renew their visas ?
does it even strike anyone that deviani khobragade got exactly what she deserved.

a congi + onion merchant clique shoehorned this entitled "diplomat" into the embassy in the US

In the MEA, her personnel file had long been flagged as "political".

her snaky slither downwards from "big chief, no shit" to "big shit, no chief" was remarkably rapid despite her father's agonized squeals when his outraged demands for India to nuke the US was turned down.

BTW, khobragade's father, uttam khobragade, was an officer in the Indian administrative service. he was also implicated in a number of corruption scandals. This paragon of virtue's last resort was politics, befitting his reputation, expertise in pilfering and recognizing his life long extractive endeavors as a double distilled, twice born and fragrantly anointed public servant.

read her wiki entry. It is very revealing and shows how an otherwise mediocre babooze becomes supercharged because of "entitlement".

jaisi karni waisi bharni (English: for whatever one sows, that will (s)he also reap, Galatians 6:7 ESV / 20)
Be that as it may, she was targeted when on duty as a representative of the country. How she got there is irrelevant to the discussion, and an internal Indian matter. No need to provide the Americans with an escape hatch for something they needlessly started. GoI dealt with her correctly once she was back on Indian soil, but not before.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Mort Walker »

Rudradev wrote:Please. It's not just the "current regime supporters" impelling Hindu genocide, not by a long shot.

The Christian Evangelicals are much more deeply involved, as the USCIRF (under Trump's appointee, Tony Perkins) has repeatedly demonstrated with its renewed initiatives of aggression against Modi's India.

In fact, it is Republican Evangelical groups who have amplified their funding of caste-baiting agitators like Equality Labs & Kancha Ilaiah with a vengeance, ever since FCRA enforcement makes it harder for them to funnel cash to India.

Supporting Republicans to solve this problem is like giving yourself cancer to cure your diabetes.
I didn’t say that. You came to your own conclusion. The current regime has enabled the leftist to proceed and coordinate with EJs. The Trump USCIRF appointee EJ Gary Bauer actually voted against USCIRF conclusions regarding India.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Ambar »

Devyani Kobhragade may have been a corrupt babu but she was an Indian diplomat serving her country when she was jailed and strip searched like a common criminal. Her case was around the time when the Indian ambassador to the US Meera Shankar was frisked at a US airport, as was India's former permanent representative to the UN and current cabinet minister Hardeep Singh Puri, even former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam was pulled and searched in NY despite him declaring his identity, these are some of the known incidents and i am sure there are many more.

Going back the BAPS case, to construct a large temple can we imagine the number of laborers who need to be brought in on R-1 visas ? From what i know R-1 visas are even harder to obtain than H1 visas, so to hire dozens of people on R-1 visas by one temple does not seem plausible. Then there is also the "minor" issue of these laborers understanding foreign construction (No contractor in India works with drywalls and 4x4 construction lumber)
materials and how to use them while ensuring they meet all sorts of regulatory standards and comply with building codes.

What is possible however is that few people may have been hired for intricate stone carvings on the temple, something that cannot be shipped nor built locally. While it is entirely possible that the management may have underpaid them it is also possible that the workers sensed an opportunity to file a case against the temple and file for asylum as was the case with Khobragade's maid.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Jarita »

Haresh wrote:
darshan wrote:Hindu Sect Known as BAPS is Accused of Using Forced Labor to Build New Jersey Temple
This will obviously be investigated.

There was something similar that happened in London, when the Shri Sanatan Hindu Temple in Wembley was built.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-lon ... 4-20213990

The company employing them did admit to what they were doing was illegal and paid back pay and compensation.

Let's be honest, Indians do exploit Indians.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/dec ... vanvasagar


Do you think that if this were a mosque, NYT would have a flame bait lead like this or even carried the story?

If these were illegals from Mexico, would NYT have carried this story?
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Haresh »

Jarita wrote:Do you think that if this were a mosque, NYT would have a flame bait lead like this or even carried the story?

If these were illegals from Mexico, would NYT have carried this story?
Probably not, let's just see what the investigation reveals. Let's not jump to conclusions.
All my point about the London story was that similar things have occurred before.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Rudradev »

Request. The issue is under investigation. NJ BAPS is under pressure (and legal advice) to keep silent and cannot tell their side of the story.

Let's not discuss the matter on a publicly accessible forum for now, especially in terms of speculating what might have happened.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Haresh »

Mort Walker wrote:
Rudradev wrote:Please. It's not just the "current regime supporters" impelling Hindu genocide, not by a long shot.

The Christian Evangelicals are much more deeply involved, as the USCIRF (under Trump's appointee, Tony Perkins) has repeatedly demonstrated with its renewed initiatives of aggression against Modi's India.

In fact, it is Republican Evangelical groups who have amplified their funding of caste-baiting agitators like Equality Labs & Kancha Ilaiah with a vengeance, ever since FCRA enforcement makes it harder for them to funnel cash to India.

Supporting Republicans to solve this problem is like giving yourself cancer to cure your diabetes.
I didn’t say that. You came to your own conclusion. The current regime has enabled the leftist to proceed and coordinate with EJs. The Trump USCIRF appointee EJ Gary Bauer actually voted against USCIRF conclusions regarding India.
My argument when I discuss this issue with any goras/leftist types is this.
1/ The Dharmic religions are indigenous, why should they not defend themselves from aggressive violent abrahamics with a track record of violence & forced conversion. Why should India become like the Phillipines, converted to Xtianity and poor, while the western churches leech the wealth.

2/ Re the USCIRF/ Tony Perkins
How can anyone take an organization seriously when it's head or ex head purchased a list of members from the Nazi Davide Duke ?

3/ Explore the links between western evangelicals and fascist organisations

These people are not morally superior to anyone.
You have to go on the offensive. Don't be passive, stick their faces in their own $hit.

Regarding caste.

Let's be honest, it is an issue. My view is Indians should discuss this with each other, it is what I regard as a "family dispute"
Make no mistake about it, it is practiced by Indian immigrants/PIO it needs to be confronted and spoken against publically.

We Indians are good at talking about each other, not to each other.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Haresh »

Justice Sunday Preachers

https://www.thenation.com/article/archi ... preachers/

just google
"tony perkins usa david duke"

Plenty of mirch maasala to cook them with.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by chanakyaa »

Just saying, whether demokrats or Weepublicans in power, top leadership knows how to keep mothership stay the course.

Biden fills immigration court with Trump hires
The Biden team has hired a slate of immigration judges initially selected during the Trump era, angering advocates who argue the White House is already failing to deliver in its pledge to push back against the prior administration's shaping of the judiciary.

The first 17 hires to the court system responsible for determining whether migrants get to remain in the country is filled with former prosecutors and counselors for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as well as a few picks with little immigration experience...
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Kaivalya »

The issue from where I see it is really - Can shilpis be considered R1 workers? I would argue they can be as they have studied shilpa sastra that is very specific to temple buildings and cannot be locally sourced.

If the religious visa holds - they can be paid as they had agreed to in the visa application. total compensation is considered along with boarding, food, transport, and other facilities provided by the management. The $1 per hour I am guessing is the take home pay or no one will be willing to work in NJ.

The issue of caste, holding them hostage, barbed fence etc. are typically added for pizzazz. It will be super expensive to make carvings etc. and ship them to NJ. And this work happens over a few years.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by g.sarkar »

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/bidens- ... relations/
Biden’s First 100 Days and India-U.S. Relations
Policy mandarins in New Delhi need to pay attention to the shifting domestic and foreign imperatives that are shaping Washington’s foreign policy.
By Monish Tourangbam and Priyanjali Simon, May 11, 2021

From the final days of Bill Clinton’s presidency to the single term of Donald Trump and the first 100 days of Joe Biden’s administration, the India-U.S. relationship has seen a broad positive arc, withstanding changes of administration in Washington.
The early days of the Biden administration have been marked by tangible strategic moves such as the convening of the first virtual leadership summit of the Quad countries and invoking “The Spirit of the Quad.” However, as Biden completed his first 100 days in office, two events raised eyebrows in New Delhi, and gave carpers of the India-U.S. partnership a field day, singing swansongs to a hollowed-out Quad.
One concerned a controversial freedom of navigation operation and the apparent transgression of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The second and the more volatile event came in allegations that the Biden administration was delayed in responding to the health crisis unfolding in India. The administration, however, did come around quickly, silencing its critics and proving that the India-U.S. relationship has indeed come a long way since the Cold War, when President Lyndon Johnson dragged his feet in responding to India’s food crisis, using American wheat surplus and the P.L. 480 program as a foreign policy tool.
On April 30, a U.S. Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft landed in Delhi bringing in oxygen cylinders, medical equipment, and COVID-19 test kits. Bowing to mounting pressure, Biden then voiced his support for a waiver on patent rights on COVID-19 vaccines. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say they will work closely with the U.S. Embassy in India, India’s health ministries, and India’s Epidemic Intelligence Service staff.
Yet again, reminiscent of the days when India negotiated a nuclear deal with the United States, movers and shakers in the Indian-American community in the United States, including Indian-American politicians, came out in full strength to push the Biden administration to respond. Big tech executives liaised with the Congressional Caucus on India, urging them to ensure that assistance is broadly available to the Indian people. India’s mounting health crisis led the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to set up a separate task force focused on providing oxygen supplies and medical equipment to India.
Like a typical Bollywood drama, all’s well that ends well. Nevertheless, it is imperative to ask: What do these two episodes tell us about the extent and limitations of the India-U.S. relationship? Is the India-U.S. partnership shock-proof, or is it still based on shaky grounds, and prone to dramatic shifts, despite the broader convergence on Indo-Pacific geopolitics?
As the Biden presidency projects a foreign policy for America’s middle class, premised on restoring the healthy of the U.S. economy, how different could it be from Trump’s call for putting “America First”? The contours of U.S. foreign policy are more starkly linked to its domestic imperatives than at any point in recent history. The flux that ensues in the move from Trump’s “America First” mantra to Biden’s “Restoring America,” and its impact on how Washington engages with the rest of the world, will test the diplomatic navigation skills of many countries, including India.
The priority accorded to India in Washington’s strategic view of the Indo-Pacific remains strong. High-level visits and virtual calls between the two have set the tone of how Washington intends to chart the course for its strategic partnership with New Delhi. The defense and security cooperation that have formed the fundamental plank of the partnership will continue to gather steam just as it did during the Trump administration. The “2+2” dialogue between the defense and foreign ministries of the two countries, the signing of foundational agreements, and the many joint working groups under the defense cooperation framework are tangible features of this growing partnership.
.....
Gautam
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by g.sarkar »

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/what-us ... for-india/
What US Support For a Vaccine Waiver Means For India
In an integrated world there can be no national solutions to a global pandemic.
Urvi Tembey and Ameya Pratap Singh, May 12, 2021

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced recently that although the Biden administration continues to stand by intellectual property protections, it “supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines” in order to support the global fight against the pandemic. The U.S. will actively participate in text-based negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to help push the waiver through.
The U.S. decision to support waiving intellectual property (IP) on vaccines comes after prolonged negotiations at the WTO to waive IP on technologies needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the current system, the multilateral Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), developed and developing countries are obligated to grant IP protection, including patents and other IP protections related to vaccines and pharmaceuticals.
However, in October 2020, India and South Africa proposed a waiver at the WTO from implementation, application and enforcement of Sections 1, 4, 5, and 7 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement in relation to prevention, containment or treatment of COVID-19 for a certain period of time. As per the waiver, members would be restricted from challenging “any measures taken in conformity with the provisions of the waivers contained in this Decision under subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994, or through the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism.” Proponents of the waiver say that temporarily waiving TRIPS obligations would help countries address IP hurdles, including those relating to industrial design, copyrights, and patents, while meeting the healthcare needs of their population during the pandemic.
Since the introduction of the waiver proposal, 60 countries, including Kenya, Eswatini, Mozambique, Pakistan, Bolivia, Venezuela, Mongolia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, the African Group, and the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, have joined as co-sponsors. However, WTO members, especially developed countries, have remained divided on this issue and many remain opponents of the waiver. The U.S. had questioned the effectiveness of such a waiver and argued that existing flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement would be sufficient to combat the pandemic. The recent support from Washington for the waiver, albeit limited, translates to one less opponent of the proposal at the WTO.
No Boost To Generic Vaccine Production, Yet
Despite increasing support for the waiver, generic companies will still remain unable to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. There is still a need to reach a multilateral consensus to waive IP rights at the WTO. Many opposing views concerning the waiver proposal remain. For example, Germany’s Angela Merkel responded to the U.S. announcement of support, by “casting doubt on whether the idea has enough international support to become a reality.” A German government spokeswoman added that “the protection of intellectual property is a source of innovation and this has to remain so in the future.” Reaching a wider consensus may still be a significant hurdle.
.....
Gautam
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by amritk »

sudarshan wrote:Sorry for OT, but is anybody aware of any good civil lawyers in Massaland, preferably Indian, who are of dharmic bent? Whisper and giggle campaigns are going on in KB (under the guise of "humor") involving caste.
Maybe put together a memo explaining the situation and reach out to Rajiv ji.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Vayutuvan »

Cyrano wrote:IA community can and must do its bit to make Biden admin rethink its approach.
In my limited circles, the word is that Modi is acting like Trump. He is blaming everybody else but himself. He should own up his mistakes or some such pap. They are all hardcore Xiden/Baptist supporters who constantly criticized Trump for the last four years. They think they are "science-minded" but left technical work long ago and have become managers/paper pushers/admin or retired with reasonable portfolios to live the rest of their lives well much better than their peers in India. So they have this occasional show of empathy and go back to their cushy lives.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Vayutuvan »

chetak wrote:just see how grandma merkel's true feeling about India, which she had kept hidden all these years, simply burst forth in a single unguarded moment, after years and years of pretending and playacting, and the same goes for beijingbiden too
Do you have a link? It would come in handy.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by uddu »

Vayutuvan wrote:
chetak wrote:just see how grandma merkel's true feeling about India, which she had kept hidden all these years, simply burst forth in a single unguarded moment, after years and years of pretending and playacting, and the same goes for beijingbiden too
Do you have a link? It would come in handy.
https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas ... hub-379603
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Vayutuvan »

Mort Walker wrote:Fortunately, they are currently disjointed. I shudder to think if the INC replaced Rahul Gandhi with a competent person, then things may look different.
yaar, I don't want anybody to underestimate INC but name one competent person in INC. As of now, only MP Shashi Tharoor comes to mind. But is he good enough? Does he have the pulse of the nation like Modi ji has?!!! I doubt it. He is an elitist just like Dr. MMS.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by KL Dubey »

Vayutuvan wrote: name one competent person in INC.


:rotfl: :((

You should judge "competence" by the mission. The mission of INC is to destroy or cripple India so that it does not rise. They have a long line of highly competent people in that. All these INC guys are in it together, the same policies will be followed with "invisible forces" controlling things.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Rudradev »

Was this ever revealed on BRF before?

Pramila Jayapal, Democratic representative to Congress from Washington state, is a notorious far-left Hinduphobe who has been extremely vocal against the Modi govt. She keeps company with the Ilhan Omars and Rashida Tlaibs, attacked India over CAA, and tried to force S Jaishnkar to meet with her in DC (in order to scream at him publicly over the Article 370 withdrawal).

Jayapal is a great favourite of CAIR, ICNA, IAMC, Equality Labs, "Sadhana", "Hindus 4 Human Rights"... you name the anti-Hindu organization and you'll find her championing it. You will not find a more toxic individual in the US Congress regarding Hindus and India, not even Ro Khanna.

People had speculated what, if any, specific connection existed between Pramila Jayapal and VP Kamala Harris.

Here it is, in Jayapal's own words.

From https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2 ... immigrants
I was born into a matrilineal family of strong women in South India. My grandmother would hitch up her sari, play tennis and swim when not many women were doing the same. She even nearly finished college before getting married.

Her sister — my great-aunt, P.K. Devi — was one of the first female obstetrician-gynecologists in the country, beloved for the work she did before later becoming the acting dean of the Chandigarh Institute of Medicine. My mother earned a master’s degree and wrote her first book at 50.

...

On the night in 2016 that I became the first South Asian woman to be elected to the House of Representatives, Kamala Harris became the first South Asian American woman — and only the second Black woman — to be elected to the Senate.

...

But we also have a connection through the strong women from whom we are descended. My great-aunt, who had long inspired me, had also been a professor to Sen. Harris’ aunt, Sarala Gopalan. In fact, Dr. Gopalan is also an obstetrician-gynecologist and became the dean of the same medical institute that Devi Aunty led. In one of Dr. Gopalan’s medical textbooks, she wrote this acknowledgment: “If we have been able to contribute to this book, it is due to the constant encouragement I (Sarala Gopalan) have received from my beloved teacher, Professor P.K. Devi.”
sanjayc
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by sanjayc »

Jaipal is a race traitor
Mort Walker
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Mort Walker »

The GoI gave Jayapal every benefit of the doubt and even PM Modi met with her after she was elected and sworn-in in 2017. Her goal and others in the Democratic Party are to harangue the GoI in any meeting with US congressional leaders. Jaishankar would not put up with such nonsense and simply cancelled a meeting US congressional leaders in 2019. The Democratic Party's plan was to embarrass both the Trump administration and the GoI. Harris was more than happy to support Jayapal in Dec. 2019.

US senator Kamala Harris slams Jaishankar's decision of not meeting Pramila Jayapal

Now all of this can be water under the bridge since the Dems are in control, but so far it has been a mixed bag. The denial of vaccine production materials, 80m doses of the unapproved AZ vaccine in the US with no timeline of release, the freedom of navigation fiasco, and the refusal of SoS Blinken to participate in a 2+2 with Sec Def Austin all points to downward trajectory in India-US relations and setback further than 1992.
chetak
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by chetak »

Vayutuvan wrote:
Mort Walker wrote:Fortunately, they are currently disjointed. I shudder to think if the INC replaced Rahul Gandhi with a competent person, then things may look different.
yaar, I don't want anybody to underestimate INC but name one competent person in INC. As of now, only MP Shashi Tharoor comes to mind. But is he good enough? Does he have the pulse of the nation like Modi ji has?!!! I doubt it. He is an elitist just like Dr. MMS.

anyone not from UP or thereabouts will find it difficult to garner the support of the north Indian parties. The south is badly split with the jagan evangelicals, dravidian separatists and the telangana satraps. The muslims will become very assertive intent on carving out a separate political space for themselves and demanding disproportionate representations in any central govt formation pitching for either home or defence, apart from HR and education. The papists will attempt to do the same. It will become a right royal clusterf(uk.

tharoor is a mosquito weight, with a nil mass base and is personally unacceptable to the dhothi, pyjama, kurta brigade, except in lootyen's media circles and that too he appeals only to a certain type of simpering, and fantasizing bimbos who have been taken in by his sexus appellationis and are hopeful of making progress in the horizontal plane. many stalwarts among the congis have greater acceptability than shampoo boy.

Besides, shampoo boy is not a favorite of the female part of the famiglia. even yeecch-ury will have better acceptability in the pappu clique and the BIF may push for him

INC has very few seats and is in the midst of its bad days and so they cannot presume to lead or even influence any political kichadi that coalesces around an anti Modi front. mama mia is ill and the pappu-pappi lot is unreliable with no charisma to speak of or even the faintest hint of any consensus making or vote garnering capabilities and the mafia famiglia cannot survive without the services of an eminence grise like ahmed patel pulling strings from the shadows. He was a money man, the keeper of famiglia secrets, a consensus builder working on the quiet and the next one may not be quite so circumspect or even so capable or so unreservedly loyal. He was the one who kept the jehadis from targeting the congi party and the mafia. He had a widespread network of contacts including cross border entities. His hold over the presstitutes and media owners was enviable in its depth and breadth.

Heavyweight onions are in the fray as this is the last and only chance remaining. no one else of any worthwhile stature survives to pull off such a feat. Naveen patnaik may land up with the prize, just like a very surprised gowda did, azad is another dark horse who may be acceptable to the BIF

Don't forget that Modi himself is not easy to sideline under any circumstances and has a really huge national support base transcending class, caste, and language barriers.

The nagpur brigade will stand like a rock to keep him safe and in the chair in case any regime change is attempted or even contemplated.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Philip »

Right now the only ones who have the "pulse of the nation" at their fingertips are the valiant medical staff fighting the China Virus!

The entire political and babu classes have let the nation down.Chaos reigns,cover ups of actual cases,death tolls are deliberately fudged,we're experts at this game, just like univ. exam papers.All the while those on the frontline,doctors,nurses,attenders and even teachers,govt. staff,police on election duty have succumbed in their thousands.We are now back to being a "turd world" basket case where we are desperate for almost everything reqd. to fight the China Virus, from vaccines,oxygen machines,oxy concentrators,with a huge amount coming from China! Aatmanirbhar is not a word you hear very often these days!

As it was in the '60s,when LBJ armtwisted us for PL-480 wheat supplies,we are now beholden to Biden and his new regime ( plus Putin for Sputnik V, XI too) for a host of items incl. raw material for our desi vaccine giants to be able to maximise production to meet the hugely ambitious govt. goal of vaccinating 1 billion Indians by Dec. In this weakened state ,pun intended,India is even more vulnerable to US diktat on many other issues like energising the Quad into a unified military machine and toeing the White House line on many international issues. We have already paid v.dearly for our asinine Iranian policy,losing out on several vital projects like the Chahbahar rail link to Afg.,oil supplies,plus the Farhad-B gas field that our entity discovered, where we've been shafted for our pusillanimity in preserving our legitimate strategic and eco. interests in Iran, taking our orders from massa Sam. It is going to be v.difficult for the current dispensation to steer an independent course and preserve our independence and sovereignty in international affairs. It is hilarious when one read from "experts" about us on course to play a leading role in diffusing the Israel-Palestinian war ,when we speak with a forked tongue on the issue time and time again! Not wanting to harm our vital relations with Israel esp. in the military field by not criticising its military actions where hundreds of civilians have died, and trying to curry favour with the Palestinians singing an old familiar tune about their legitimate rights of a sovereign state ,trying to stand on moral quicksand! The stark fact remains that to the US India is looked at as anti-China cannon fodder,and to both as a market of 1.4 billion that must be flooded with goods and services from both .
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Rudradev »

Here is some direct evidence that China has enlisted the Left/Islamist nexus in the US Democratic Party as a willing collaborator to influence US policies.


https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/1 ... ism-489688

Progressives warn Biden, Congress against fueling hatred with anti-China measures
Anti-war lawmakers and activists say depicting China as an existential threat fuels hatred at home while doing little to contain Beijing’s ambitions.
President Joe Biden and congressional leaders are eager to take a hard stance on China. But some left-leaning Democrats and activists are lobbying for a softer touch, worried new anti-China policies will inflame racism against Asian Americans and lead to an unending conflict with Beijing akin to a new Cold War.

See how the game is played by China (and its US-based proxies like George Soros).

-First the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Vox Media etc. are paid off to drum up general hysteria about "systemic racism" while intensifying liberal White American guilt to the maximum extent. This is used to contextualize every "progressive" argument, no matter how absurd. The object is to create a hyper-responsive environment in which allegations of racism become the primary drivers of US policy.

- Then, spurious narratives are constructed to establish one particular community as a global "victim class". Such narratives are perpetually regurgitated to ensure that this class (and, importantly, any movement associated with it worldwide) is forever immune to critical questioning.

- With the efforts of Qatar-funded groups like CAIR, ICNA, etc. and their fully-paid up members of Congress (Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jayapal) the first such "victim class" to be established was Islam. This has already borne fruit in three ways: one, a sustained Hinduphobic narrative against India with regard to Article 370 and the CAA; two, increased "progressive" backing for efforts to revive the JCPOA and write Iran a blank cheque for its terrorism and nuclear proliferation; three, the partial success of ongoing attempts to compel the US government to turn against Israel. Other effects, such as a common perception of Rohingya terrorist organizations as "victims of Myanmarese Buddhist oppression", have become evident as well.

-Now the same schema has been extended from Islam to "Asian Americans" (read Chinese) as a "global victim class". Because (it is alleged) there have been increased racist attacks against Asian-Americans since the pandemic began, one should never refer to the Chinese origins of SARS-CoV2. In other words, the dregs of American society (the types who would go and beat up a random Chinese-American person in connection with COVID19) are cited as an excuse to dictate the top-level contours of American policy discourse.

-From here it is a short step to the appalling idea that US policy towards the People's Republic of China should be predicated on fears that redneck thugs will engage in random acts of prejudice against Chinese (and other Mongoloid-featured) Americans.



More than 60 activist groups and at least four prominent lawmakers are stepping up their criticisms as the Senate pushes through this week a package of anti-China bills that enjoy backing from members of both parties and the White House. Any coordinated opposition could gum up the ongoing amendment process on the Senate floor, or throw a wrench in future efforts to reconcile the measure with the House’s slower-moving initiatives against China.

The pushback comes as Biden positions China as America’s chief global adversary, casting the 21st century as a battle between U.S.-led democracies and autocratic governments led by China. Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle agree that the threat justifies a new package of new bipartisan bills that would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to confront China, the world’s second-largest economy.


Progressive lawmakers and activists are dismayed by what they see as bipartisan unity to repeat American foreign policy mistakes. Rushing to position China as an existential threat to the U.S. would commit the country to decades of wasteful spending and military engagements, they say, while fueling hatred at home similar to the Islamophobia seen after 9/11.
See?

“We need to distinguish between justified criticisms of the Chinese government’s human rights record and a Cold War mentality that uses China as a scapegoat for our own domestic problems and demonizes Chinese Americans,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of a group of lawmakers pressing Biden and congressional leaders to take a more cooperative approach to relations with Beijing. So the CAIR/ICNA-funded Ilhan Omar, of all people, argues for a "nuanced" approach to China's treatment of Uighurs. This is the same woman who barged into a Congressional hearing on Kashmir and denounced the sole Hindu witness on its panel-- journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh-- as a stooge of the fascist Hindutva government justifying the supposed oppression of Kashmiri Muslims.

For now, many members of Congress aren’t willing to publicly challenge the rising anti-China sentiment, and none are yet planning to oppose China-related bills, like one co-sponsored by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. That could change if the bills continue to single out China for penalties, lead to increased military spending and ignore opportunities for cooperation.

Already, even some who back Schumer’s bill, the Endless Frontier Act, are speaking out against anti-China rhetoric coming from Congressional leaders and the Biden White House.

“I strongly reject any anti-China rhetoric associated with this bill, and we must be vigilant about the impacts of such rhetoric on AAPI communities at a time of increased hate crimes,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), one of the House sponsors, while emphasizing he still supports the bill’s provisions to boost domestic tech research and production. “We won't be able to solve the challenges of the 21st century like the climate crisis and global health unless we have relationships that harness partnerships across the globe, including China.”

We have discussed Jamaal Bowman before on the Understanding US Thread. A new member of the Squad, he was elected to Congress in 2020. During his campaign, he not only posted several anti-India tweets on the Kashmir issue, but in some of them even tagged the Pakistani American Association of New York, giving away his motives. Talk about saying the quiet part out loud!

...

In Xinjiang, Xi’s crackdown has used strategies ripped from the U.S. war on terror, Omar said, including justifying mass surveillance and arbitrary detention of citizens due to a perceived threat of Islamic radicalism. :roll:

“So we’re also overdue for a serious reckoning with the way our own war on terror language has been used by Xi and others to commit the gravest of human rights violations,” Omar said.

The level of gaslighting from "progressives" is insane. Muslim groups attacked the US on 9/11, an attack proclaimed to have been inspired by Islam. The US responded by increasing surveillance of Muslim groups inside the US (and subsequently was able to thwart many attempted terrorist attacks). Ilhan Omar has long described these counter-terrorist measures as "Islamophobia", but now she goes a step further-- even China's treatment of Uighurs must somehow be laid at the door of this so-called American "Islamophobia".
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Vayutuvan »

Jarita wrote: Neelima Jain
Deputy Director, Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies

(Native traitor)
How influential is she?
Jarita
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Jarita »

Not very influential but they aspire for influence by ramping up treachery.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by ricky_v »

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/n ... inosphere/
While the unity on display at the Quad summit was an impressive show of strength, it was also an incomplete picture that masked growing friction among members on several elemental technology issues such as cross-border data flows, data privacy, payments, digital taxation, competition, e-commerce, and law enforcement.
For its part, India has pointedly rejected Japan’s “data free flow with trust” formulation for cross-border data transfers and championed expansive data-localization restrictions through its forthcoming data-privacy legislation. The United States has frequently clashed with India on digital-trade and online-freedom issues and has taken steps to levy tariffs on New Delhi in response to the Modi government’s digital taxes.
Restrictions on inbound Chinese foreign direct investment and outbound investment in Chinese firms are also starting to take root among Quad members, especially India and the United States.
https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-eco ... ings-trade
According to some analysts, the trade data suggests the United States is prioritising its own economic interests over its ally’s, despite a promise from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week that Washington would not leave Australia to face economic coercion from Beijing.

“In fact, as the case of China’s banning Australian coal indicates, Australia’s loss has turned out to be the US’ gain because the latter has been able to increase its coal exports to China at the expense of Australia.”
Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby said the comments amounted to the “usual empty reassurances made to allies to keep their resolve” and proof of Washington’s support will come when the “US refuses to backfill into the Chinese market where Australian trade has been blocked”
India, on the other hand, has no similar bilateral agreements in place. Its free-trade agreement with Japan has an annex on telecommunications services, although it deals primarily with public telecommunications networks, interconnection, and other market-access issues. Perhaps the most striking example of disagreement among the Quad is that India has actively objected to WTO negotiations. Along with South Africa, India argues that these negotiations and others like them violate WTO rules and principles by not involving all members, even as it refuses to participate.
A strong first step would be expanding the scope of the Quad working group on critical and emerging technologies to cover the wide array of digital issues, including data governance and law-enforcement cooperation. More broadly, a Quad economic dialogue led by foreign ministers and trade ministers could also serve as a useful forum to drive greater alignment on critical digital issues such as cross-border data flows, data protection, and digital commerce.
The group should interact with CEOs of leading tech companies from each country, which would create opportunities to align on thorny digital issues and help build common solutions to shared concerns.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/n ... tal-india/
How US tech companies navigate this coming regulatory storm may prove critical to their future in India and other Asian markets—particularly if New Delhi’s regulatory interventions become a blueprint for other jurisdictions. If these companies accommodate New Delhi’s views, it could preserve their ability to compete in one of the world’s largest digital economies. But it would also require them to localize data, products, and platform policies in ways that may be costly, unpalatable, and precedent-setting. US tech executives are no doubt worried about a slow creep toward a “splinternet” in which sovereign lines sever the global digital commons and fracture global platforms.
The wild card in all of this—for US tech companies and the Indian government—is the outlook of the Biden administration and its newly confirmed US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. A strong signal from the Biden administration regarding the importance of digital trade in upcoming engagements with Indian officials, such as the US-India Trade Policy Forum, could give Indian leaders pause in aggressively pressuring American tech companies on economic or political grounds.
https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-office ... yush-goyal
Ambassador Tai stressed the critical importance of cooperation on a broad set of issues, including digital trade, intellectual property, agriculture, labor, and climate and the environment.
Cain Marko
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Cain Marko »

In the past week or so two important events took place in the context of this thread and there was no real discussion regarding these...
Garcetti appointed as us ambassador, and
Jaishankar visited the US.

Bhaat eej matter with phorum gurus...
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