India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 18 Feb 2021 12:54

Like the thought process.

PS unable to sign using Chrome on Android.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 18 Feb 2021 19:16

Rudradev wrote:It is not a "response". It is about making our voice heard as a community....

I thought you lot had already done that in the recent elections.

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 19 Feb 2021 06:07

Kashi wrote:
Rudradev wrote:It is not a "response". It is about making our voice heard as a community....
I thought you lot had already done that in the recent elections.

Waiting for elections to make your voice heard as a community is daft.

You have to make noise constantly in the time between elections, elevate your community profile and political interests both in social media and the real world-- thats how you get noticed for your numbers/resources/organizing-power.

Then when the election approaches, the candidates/parties come TO YOU.

That's how the Khalistanis and Islamists do it.

AkshaySG · Post by **AkshaySG** » 19 Feb 2021 06:56

Rudradev wrote:It is not a "response". It is about making our voice heard as a community, whatever the outcome of this particular resolution, and becoming unignorable.

The way to look at this is not: "why should we run around like fools to counter every single pipsqueak resolution or statement".

The way to look at it is: every time the Islamists & Left do this kind of thing, they are GIVING US the opportunity to put OUR numbers, our commitment, our organization, our unity as Hindus on display.

Ultimately US politicians don't care at all about CAA or 370 or any of the rest of it. But they do notice & will remember if Hindus stand up as one & let the tiger within us roar.

Don't waste a single opportunity!

I agree tbh ... We as a a community are slow and inefficient when it comes to raising our voices against actions being taken by foreign countries which can be taken as acceptance or weakness and thus no one paying much heed to our wants and thoughts

Compare that to when there's an issue involving jewish,Islamic sentiments or say pro Chinese, pro Israeli policies etc etc they have tons of people from grassroot and local leaders all the way up to central govt politicians as mouthpieces .

If this battle is to be fought in the court of public opinion we too need a strong show of support form Bharat supporting foreign goverments/politicians/ NRi's etc .

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 19 Feb 2021 08:40

Ask Chicago City Council to vote NO on a resolution condemning CAA

http://chng.it/sTjjhTXLV5

RD sir, will definitely do the needful, but in all honesty it is GoI who should run a petition condemning ~~gun violence~~ hooman rights in Chicago

2020 Cook County deaths break records due to gun violence, opioid overdoses, COVID-19

3,800 people shot in Chicago through end of November as violence spikes 50% from last year

Chicago Sees 51 Homicides in January — Highest in 4 Years

7 shot Monday in Chicago

At Least 23 Shot, 2 Killed In Weekend Gun Violence In Chicago

Chicago Crime Infographics

United Nations, where are you?? A murder every 14 hours...

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 19 Feb 2021 13:42

chanakyaa wrote:
Ask Chicago City Council to vote NO on a resolution condemning CAA

http://chng.it/sTjjhTXLV5
RD sir, will definitely do the needful, but in all honesty it is GoI who should run a petition condemning ~~gun violence~~ hooman rights in Chicago

2020 Cook County deaths break records due to gun violence, opioid overdoses, COVID-19

3,800 people shot in Chicago through end of November as violence spikes 50% from last year

Chicago Sees 51 Homicides in January — Highest in 4 Years

7 shot Monday in Chicago

At Least 23 Shot, 2 Killed In Weekend Gun Violence In Chicago

Chicago Crime Infographics

United Nations, where are you?? A murder every 14 hours...

I tweeted it to the Mayor

That is what all should do

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 20 Feb 2021 09:16

I am sure this is not the proper thread for this particular topic, but, I think India can find foothold to take advantage of the situation.

Biden Wants to Restore NATO. Macron Is Looking to Move On.

The two leaders appeared to talk past each other at this week’s Munich Security Conference.

venkat_kv · Post by **venkat_kv** » 24 Feb 2021 06:56

Rudradev wrote:Please sign & share this petition
Ask Chicago City Council to vote NO on a resolution condemning CAA

http://chng.it/sTjjhTXLV5

done saar, agree with what you have said regarding organization and getting our voice heard.

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 25 Feb 2021 02:41

Some deeply concerning articles on how "progressives" (i.e. Radical Squad Leftists) are increasing their influence over the Biden administration.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-bi ... t?ref=home
How Progressives Are Building Power in the Biden White House

In order to understand just how open the lines of communication are between the progressive left and President Joe Biden, look no further than White House chief of staff Ron Klain’s call log.

Klain speaks to Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “quite often,” recently talked to freshman Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a newly minted Squad member, and has conversations with many “less famous” individuals in the Democratic Party’s left wing on a regular basis, he told The Daily Beast in an interview. Almost always, those chats are conducted over the phone.

Jamaal Bowman is someone who has not only tweeted against India on CAA and Article 370 but openly @-tagged Pakistani lobbyist groups on those tweets (Greta Toolkit Moment)... revealing exactly where his (dis)information, as well as his funding/inducements were coming from.

Of particular concern, while Biden administration officials want to reserve more space for their centrist agenda in domestic policy matters (economy, law & order, etc.) they have bargained by offering the Rabid Left greater influence in foreign policy and national security matters... which, as we know, the common American electorate doesn't pay attention to, but the ideological left (and their Islamist financiers) certainly do.

From the above article:

Yasmine Taeb has experienced a similarly warm reception from the White House. In late December, Taeb, a human rights lawyer, was among a group of activists who compiled and sent a book of 100 progressive foreign policy practitioners to incoming administration officials hoping to influence important staffing decisions. Just a few months later, she said officials had consulted the list and made “several” hires from the recommendations, with others currently in the process of being interviewed.

“The White House referred to it as a ‘fantastic resource’ and I’ve been in touch with them regularly about it,” said Taeb, sharing details of a positive email she received from an administration contact. “I’m trying to work to ensure that we get as many of the candidates that we recommended into the administration as possible,” she said. “They are in fact using it for staffing purposes.”

We can already see benefits accruing from Yasmine Taeb's lobbying efforts in terms of America's Middle East policy shifting against Israel and Saudi Arabia, and in favour of Iran (btw, guess what, Taeb is of Iranian origin).

See here for more details: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... bia-470911

Elections have consequences. And nowhere are the consequences of Joe Biden’s election more worrisome than in Jerusalem and Riyadh. In the past week, the president has signaled to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—the region’s two biggest egos—that the sugar high of the Trump years is over.

Biden isn’t interested in fundamentally altering these relationships. But he is looking to rebalance the Israeli and Saudi accounts, restore Israeli and Saudi respect for U.S. interests absent during the Trump years, and signal to Bibi and MBS—who are now wondering where they stand among Biden’s priorities—that they are no longer the center of America’s world and should think very carefully before they take actions to undermine U.S. interests. Biden isn’t looking for a fight. And whether he takes tougher actions against Israel and Saudi Arabia will depend on whether they willfully ignore or undermine U.S. interests in creating greater security and stability in the region.
...
Biden also has plenty of options to make life unpleasant for Saudi Arabia if it attempts to sabotage a new nuclear agreement with Iran.
...

If that is the shape of things to come, India should be worried. This article names many of the Biden administration's favoured candidates for national security and foreign policy positions. All of them seem to come with recommendations from Taeb & other so-called "human rights" activists.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/1 ... den-448062
Progressives line up their own national security recruits for Biden
Some 100 candidates listed for senior posts have no corporate ties but a history of questioning foreign policy orthodoxy.

Some 65 percent are women or people of color and there are "zero with corporate ties and backgrounds," said Yasmine Taeb, a senior fellow at the progressive Center for International Policy.

"This is the first comprehensive and coordinated effort by the left to influence the transition to appoint progressives to national security and foreign policy positions," she added. "The candidates being recommended are not only qualified but are forward-looking, with no corporate ties or revolving door issues which has been a concern with respect to many of the national security appointments being made by the incoming Biden administration."

Dozens of groups contributed, including the Progressive Change Institute; Common Defense; the Revolving Door Project; Friends of the Earth U.S., Progressive Democrats of America; the Project on Government Oversight; EarthRights International, the Center for Economic and Policy Research; the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft; Win Without War; Peace Action; Women's Action for New Directions; National Iranian American Council Action; the American Economic Liberties Project; and the Arab American Institute.

Some familiar Pak/China-pasand names include:

Matt Duss, the top foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), is being put forward as deputy national security adviser or special adviser to the secretary of State. (Remember Bernie's speech bashing India on Article 370 at the ISNA Conference)

...
They'd like to see Alison Friedman, executive director of the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable and an expert on human trafficking who served in the State Department, as Biden's undersecretary of State for civilian security, democracy and human rights. (The only purpose of this office would be demonizing leaders whom the globalist left doesn't like as "authoritarian", "fascist" etc., and sanctioning their countries accordingly )

And another recommendation is for Noah Gottschalk, a senior policy adviser at Oxfam America, to be named deputy assistant secretary of State overseeing the bureau of population, refugees and migration. [/b] (Where refugees take center stage and Oxfam is referenced, can Soros be far behind? These same players were behind the Rohingya pipeline that Modi angered Soros by refusing to accommodate.)

...
A number of others on the list are well-known in defense and foreign policy circles: Bruce Riedel, a scholar at the Brookings Institution, is a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for the Near East and South Asia. [/b] (The less said about Riedel the better.)

Joe Cirincione is the former president of the Ploughshares Fund, a leading advocate for nuclear disarmament. [/b] (A name familiar from the Pokhran II aftermath, screaming vociferously for sanctions against India)

...
Many other job candidates are up and coming players in progressive national security circles — such as Iram Ali, a former adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) presidential campaign who also worked for Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Keane Bhatt, a policy adviser to Sanders who has worked on legislation to cut off arms sales to Saudi Arabia over human rights abuses.
(Both Warren's and Sanders' Primary Election Platforms had "Muslim Americans" sections that focused exclusively on promises to punish "fascist, Islamophobic" nations like India, Myanmar, and Israel-- surprisingly not China for its persecution of Uighurs, however. Guess who came up with those.)

disha · Post by **disha** » 25 Feb 2021 04:35

Neera Tandon's nomination sinks. She was billed as the first "south asian woman" to head an agency

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/2 ... ion-471265

I think what sank her nomination was her being being a house coconut. If she had taken a pause early on and understood what the whole brouhaha is in any democracy and had hung to her Indian roots and heritage, she would have come out far better.

darshan · Post by **darshan** » 25 Feb 2021 06:00

Agree. The useful coconuts have limited shelf life. The least one could learn from the british usage of coconuts.

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 25 Feb 2021 06:15

Tanden's nomination was sunk because she was a house coconut for the wrong massa (Hillary Clinton) at the wrong time.

For years, she faithfully served as Hillary Clinton's attack dog on mainstream as well as social media. In fact she recently deleted about 1000 of her tweets abusing Clinton's rivals & enemies over the years.

Republican Senators are unified in voting against her because she abused so many of them.

But she also abused far-left Democrats, including Bernie Sanders, for Hillary Clinton's sake... so the far left hates her too.

Plus she is brown but not black, Democrat but not Socialist, "South Asian" but not a Mainority religion, a woman but not trans or gay... there are just not enough oppression points to redeem her on the woke scale.

So the only backers she has are the old-school centrist Democrats of Hillary Clinton's fading retinue. Biden himself plus a few ageing Senators & Congressmen near the end of their careers.

Phinees.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 25 Feb 2021 06:27

disha wrote:Neera Tandon's nomination sinks. She was billed as the first "south asian woman" to head an agency

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/2 ... ion-471265

I think what sank her nomination was her being being a house coconut. If she had taken a pause early on and understood what the whole brouhaha is in any democracy and had hung to her Indian roots and heritage, she would have come out far better.

This seems to be the case. Piyush Jindal sold his soul and pretended to be white just to fit in with the goras. In the process he was never embraced by the goras, and the desis (Hindus) hate him. Now he works for an investment firm. All these slaves end up in the same place.

disha · Post by **disha** » 28 Feb 2021 10:32

Rudradev wrote: Plus she is brown but not black, Democrat but not Socialist, "South Asian" but not a Mainority religion, a woman but not trans or gay... there are just not enough oppression points to redeem her on the woke scale.

^Brilliant! I think all brown desi coconuts should learn this Hiryankashipu clause :

O lord! For my nomination please make me black but not complete black and not complete brown., Social Democrat but not socialist but more socialist than democrat., A South Asian with Hindu heritage neither a hindu., A peaceful and a lover of religion but not 72 houri peaceful and neither thumping lover., a woman but not man enough and neither a woman.

BRFite's please help me improve the clause. It should be so germane that all the brown coconuts can be read the clause.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 01 Mar 2021 00:28

Rudradev wrote:Tanden's nomination was sunk because she was a house coconut for the wrong massa (Hillary Clinton) at the wrong time.

For years, she faithfully served as Hillary Clinton's attack dog on mainstream as well as social media. In fact she recently deleted about 1000 of her tweets abusing Clinton's rivals & enemies over the years.

Republican Senators are unified in voting against her because she abused so many of them.

But she also abused far-left Democrats, including Bernie Sanders, for Hillary Clinton's sake... so the far left hates her too.

Plus she is brown but not black, Democrat but not Socialist, "South Asian" but not a Mainority religion, a woman but not trans or gay... there are just not enough oppression points to redeem her on the woke scale.

So the only backers she has are the old-school centrist Democrats of Hillary Clinton's fading retinue. Biden himself plus a few ageing Senators & Congressmen near the end of their careers.

Phinees.

The position Tanden is being nominated for is the head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the executive branch. The OMB coordinates policies of the various civilian agencies, including the Treasury Dept., to set the administration's goals for domestic programs. In practice the OMB sits above the Treasury Secretary in terms of domestic policy and has lots of political pull since a major portion of the domestic budget are entitlement programs such as Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, and food/housing/education assistance. The head of OMB must work with House, where the budget starts, and then guide the budget through the senate for compromise, reconciliation and approval. Of nearly $5T of US federal spending, some $3T is mandatory spending for the entitlement programs. The remaining $2T of discretionary spending includes defense ($741B) and the OMB doesn't impact the National Defense Authorization appropriations. As the NDAA bills go through their own planning and political process. Of that $3T entitlements there is much room for political arm twisting and corruption of various members of congress and states. A firebrand head of the OMB can manage this well. Tanden is the ultimate Democratic party insider and the original "nasty woman" who can do this job the best. The Xiden administration is not going to give up on her. They need only one vote in the senate and I'm fairly certain "money bags" are being prepared and sent to Senators like Murkowski and others. If that doesn't work, she will be in another position in the administration.

Tanden has given mixed messages about India, but despite her incessant tweeting, she has kept relatively quiet about India. Her parents migrated to the US in the late 1960s and she was born in the US with her brother. Her father abandoned the family when Tanden was 5 years old, and the family went through hard times relying on welfare for a few years. The problem with Tanden is that she will push an aggressive domestic welfare program, and although there is nothing inherently wrong with that, the revenue isn't there. What worries me is that under Tanden, she may ask the administration pursue something like the EU-China agreement on investment to boost shareholder profits and subsequent boost of US tax revenue. All indications are that this administration is looking for something to boost revenues before the next election cycle of 2022.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 03 Mar 2021 06:21

Nothing new, closing the chapter.

Neera Tanden withdraws from nomination as Biden budget chief

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he is withdrawing the nomination of Neera Tanden as his budget chief at her request, a move that came after more than a week of signs that Tanden would fail to win Senate confirmation...

Senators Signal Support for Shalanda Young for Deputy OMB Director

...Shalanda Young, a longtime congressional staffer and Mr. Biden’s choice as the budget office’s No. 2, has been discussed by some allies of the White House as a candidate to lead the office if Neera Tanden’s nomination as OMB director is withdrawn or fails in the Senate...

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 03 Mar 2021 07:17

Murkowski was waffling on Tanden's nomination. The DNC simply didn't pay her enough or promise no serious challenge in 2022 election. However, Tanden isn't going away as she'll be back in another position in the WH. They need her.

I keep wondering when the Nobel Prize winner nominees will be appointed to various positions, or even respected academics, as was were promised? Even a Fields Medal winner and "believer in science" would be acceptable as opposed to Ivy League bandit attorneys.

Vips · Post by **Vips** » 05 Mar 2021 08:48

Indian-Americans taking over US, says Biden as they keep getting Key posts.

Indian-Americans are taking over the country, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, referring to the high number of people from the community getting a place in his administration.

In less than 50 days of his presidency, Biden has appointed at least 55 Indian-Americans to key leadership positions in his administration ranging from his speech writer to the NASA, to almost every wing of the government.

"Indian-of-descent Americans (sic) are taking over the country. You (Swati Mohan), my Vice President (Kamala Harris), my speech writer (Vinay Reddy)," Biden said in a virtual interaction with NASA scientists who were involved in the historic landing of Perseverance landing at Mars.

Indian-American scientist Swati Mohan leads the guidance, navigation, and control operations of NASA's Mars 2020 mission.

Who are the Indian-Americans in US President Joe Biden's administration
Biden, who was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, has created history by appointing at least 55 Indian-Americans to key positions in his administration. This does not include Vice President Kamala Harris, which is an elected position, and Neera Tanden, who a day earlier withdrew her nomination from the position of Director of White House Office of Management and Budget.

Nearly half of them are women and a sizable number of them are working in the White House. So far, the Obama-Biden administration (2009-2017) has the distinction of appointing the largest number of Indian-Americans in any administration, the previous Donald Trump administration was not lagging far behind as it appointed the first ever Indian-American with a cabinet rank and inside the National Security Council.

The Biden administration has for the first time appointed such a large number of Indian-Americans in the first 50 days of his administration. This past week, Dr. Vivek Murthy testified before a Senate Committee for US Surgeon General and Vanita Gupta is all set to appear for her confirmation hearing for Associate Attorney General Department of Justice.
"It is impressive to see how many Indian-Americans were ready to go into public service. There have been so many additions since we launched our Government Leaders list last month on Presidents' Day. I am so proud to see our community is going from strength to strength!," eminent Indian-American philanthropist and Indiaspora founder M Rangaswami told PTI.

While the community is disappointed that Tanden had to withdraw her nomination because of stiff opposition from the Republicans, Indian-American women have reached a new height in the Biden administration. Biden sought to speak with Swati Mohan, Guidance and Controls Operations Lead, Mars 2020. She is not a political appointee though.

Indian-American women appointed by Biden include Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, State Department; Mala Adiga: Policy Director to Dr Jill Biden; Aisha Shah: Partnership Manager, White House Office of Digital Strategy; Sameera Fazili, Deputy Director, US National Economic Council (NEC); Sumona Guha: Senior Director for South Asia at the National Security Council, White House; and Sabrina Singh: Deputy Press Secretary, Vice President White House.

Shanthi Kalathil has been appointed as Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights, National Security Council, White House; Garima Verma has been named as Digital Director of the Office of the First Lady; Sonia Aggarwal as Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation; Office of Domestic Climate Policy, White House; Neha Gupta: Associate Counsel, Office of White House Counsel; and Reema Shah as Deputy Associate Counsel, Office of White House Counsel.

Tanya Das has been appointed as Chief of Staff, Office of Science, Department of Energy; Shuchi Talati: Chief of Staff, Office of Fossil Energy, Department of Energy; Mini Timmaraju: Senior adviser to the director, Office of Personnel Management ; Sohini Chatterjee: Senior Policy Advisor US Mission to the United Nations, Aditi Gorur: Policy Advisor, US Mission to the United Nations; and Bhavya Lal is the Acting Chief of Staff, NASA.

Dimple Chaudhary has been appointed as Deputy General Counsel for Nationwide Resource Protection Programs, Environmental Protection Agency; Sharmistha Das is the Deputy General Counsel, Department of Homeland Security; Ruchi Jain is the Deputy Solicitor for General Law, Department of Interior; Meera Joshi is the Acting Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Administration, Department of Transportation; Aruna Kalyanam is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax and Budget, Department of the Treasury.

"We are thrilled that this administration reflects the diversity of America by including an unprecedented number of South Asians. The Biden-Harris administration's inclusion of South Asians in key senior staff roles will undoubtedly inspire countless South Asians to aspire to public service and run for public office. This is a proud moment for our community," Neha Dewan from South Asians for Biden told PTI.

Gautam Raghavan, Deputy Director in Office of Presidential Personnel; Bharat Ramamurti, Deputy Director of National Economic Council; Tarun Chhabra, Senior Director for Technology and National Security at National Security Council White House; Vedant Patel, Assistant Press Secretary President at the White House are among several other Indian-Americans who got key posts in the Biden administration.

nvishal · Post by **nvishal** » 06 Mar 2021 16:17

To put it short,
Biden is MMS

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 06 Mar 2021 16:27

CAATSA still rears its ugly head,threatening the sale of BMos to the Phillippines,etc. becos of Ru components.The US are now interfering with export of Indian CV vaccines,Poonawalla on restrictions of export of vaccine-related ingredientents. This will adversely affect production.SI is the world's biggest manufacturer of vaccines.

darshan · Post by **darshan** » 06 Mar 2021 19:18

https://aapivictoryfund.com/representation_biden/

Biden nominates Pakistani-American as deputy head of Small Business Admin
https://wap.business-standard.com/artic ... 105_1.html

Syed, who played a key role in organizing the Asian American Pacific Islanders community and was one of the early supporters of Biden, is the highest-ranking Pakistani-American in the Biden administration.

The White House sent the nomination to the Senate later in the day. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the highest-ranking Muslim American in the Biden administration.

Syed is president and CEO of Lumiata, an AI for healthcare company focused on reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes. Previously, he was president of Freshworks where he helped scale the software company's products to thousands of small and medium businesses.

"As the founding Chair of California Entrepreneurship Task Force with the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, Dilawar drives inclusive entrepreneurship bridging coastal regions with the state's rural heartland. He served on President Obama's White House Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and chaired the White House Initiative on AAPIs' Economic Growth Committee," the White House said.

In that role, Syed led the administration's engagement with small businesses across the US after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Syed also served as a liaison with the Small Business Administration and the Department of Commerce on federal initiatives such as the President's Export Council.

He holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned a BA in Economics and Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin. Syed immigrated to the US from Pakistan as a freshman student to attend The College of Wooster in Ohio.

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 07 Mar 2021 19:42

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 370345.cms
Defense sec Austin to visit India

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 07 Mar 2021 22:13

vijayk wrote:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 370345.cms
Defense sec Austin to visit India

So it appears the US administration is abandoning the 2+2 ministerial level dialog which was established in Sep. 2018. IIRC, the original idea was proposed in the Obama administration and realized in the Trump administration. It is odd Sec Def is visiting without SoS. It seems this administration is taking a step backward and this visit doesn't bode well.

Both Blinken and Austin are visiting Japan the week of March 15th as part of 2+2. Why not India?
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-jap ... SXXN2L2003

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 07 Mar 2021 22:21

Democrats divided: One faction is targeting Indian Americans

President Joe Biden is facing a new unique problem coming from within the Democrat establishment. Bernie Sanders played as a negative force against Biden especially with Biden nominees. Neera Tanden faced revolt from within the Democrats on account of her past social media tirades. The Democrat forces supported by Middle Eastern coalitions and PACs played an active role in rejection of Neera Tanden’s appointment. Earlier the Hillary Clinton faction of the Democrats played a negative role in opposing Tulsi Gabbard’s Presidential bid. The narrative against Indian American appointments in the Biden administration is led by the CAIR-funded Bernie Sanders faction of Democrats. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna also belong to the same faction of Democrats. While Ro Khanna has openly begun to voice his opposition to Biden policies, the others have been contained by the Obama faction of the Democrat establishment.
:
:
:
Indian Americans, who have voted Democrats, are probably at a disadvantage today because of the systemic racism against them by multiple factions from within the party. Indian Americans have a lot of hope from Jamaican-Indian American, Kamala Harris to give them a level playing field. Republicans have been wooing this Indian American community over the last three election cycles. In the 2020 elections, the Indian American community voted 27% for the GOP while the majority voted for the Democrats. That’s almost 11% more than any other previous election. Why? The left leaning Bernie Sanders moved more Indian American votes towards the GOP. It is wrong to say that Indian Americans account for 4-5 million votes. That is just Indians (Hindus) from South Asia. There are American Hindus, Jamaican Hindus and Hindus from other parts of the world who have settled in America and who all think in a similar way. The modern analysts forget that the entire yoga community in the US is also connected to the Indian American thought process. It is high time that Democrats reinvented themselves and not ignored the aspirations of Indian Americans.

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 09 Mar 2021 19:58

So after spending much of the last 5 yrs calling Trump's decision to bring the 2 decades old Afghanistan war to an end and pull out the US troops as "ill thought" and "poor policy decision", it looks like the new democratic WH too is now thinking of pulling out the troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible. Trouble is they want 4 wolves to decide on who will guard the sheep. In a strongly worded letter to President Ghani, SCOTUS Blinken outlined 4 paths to "move matters more quickly". One of the plans involves Turkey playing the mediator between Taliban and the Afghanistan government by hosting a conference in Istanbul . If Pakistan occupying a chair on the negotiations table was bad enough, letting another delusional wannabe leader of pan-islamic world like Turkey is terrible news for both India and Afghanistan.

Letter published on Afghanistan's ToloNews - https://tolonews.com/pdf/02.pdf

Vips · Post by **Vips** » 17 Mar 2021 06:03

Maritime security, defence deals and regional issues to be discussed with the US.

Stage is set to welcome the new US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin later this week, who will on his maiden two day visit to India from March 19-20.The US Defense secretary who is going to be accompanied by a high level official delegation has a very packed schedule while in New Delhi. He is going to have a meeting with his counterpart Indian Defense minister Rajnath Singh, other top officers in the Ministry of Defense and he is expected to call Prime Minister Narendra Modi too.

“No major announcement is expected in this visit. This is more of an exploratory visit and there will be a wide range of issues that the two sides will talk about. Also, the visit assumes importance as it is coming soon after the recently concluded virtual summit of the Quad which was called by the US President Joe Biden,” explained a senior officer to Financial Express Online. Adding, “The visit is also important as it is coming ahead of the next 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue later this year. This time the venue is Washington DC.”

At the end of the visit, a joint statement is likely to be issued which will highlight the issues that were discussed.

What has the Pentagon said about the forthcoming visit?

The two sides will discuss the importance of International Defense Relationship; and the Defense Secretary will reinforce the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

He is also visiting South Korea, Japan, and US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii – a reinforcement of its commitment to Indo-Pacific. India is the last leg of his maiden foreign trip.

Both sides are going to focus on further strengthening the Indo-US Major Defense Partnership; Maritime Domain Awareness; bilateral and multilateral military exercises; defense joint ventures and production, as well deepening cooperation in the Western Indian Ocean Region and free and open Indo-Pacific.

The bilateral relations between the two countries have witnessed significant broadening and growing relationship. And due to the continuing standoff between India and China along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, the two countries have come closer as far as security cooperation is concerned.

Defense Deals in the pipeline

Leasing of military platforms is going to be discussed, as this is something new the Ministry of Defence has introduced in Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.

Topping the list is the pending proposal of 30 armed drones from the US based General Atomics. The deal which is estimated to be at around USD 3 billion has been pending since last year. And, now, as has been reported by Financial Express Online, the deal is in the final stages of getting a stamp of approval by Defence Acquisition Council (DAC).

As reported earlier, the Indian Navy has leased two drones from the company for one year, and these were deployed in 2020 to provide security cover during the standoff between India and China were at the peak.

Fighter jets including the Boeing Company’s F15EX for the Indian Air Force’s Requirement off 114 and F/A-18 Super Hornet for the Navy’s proposal to acquire 57 new jets for its aircraft carriers.

Another deal which is being discussed is 10 Naval Shipborne Unmanned Aerial Systems. For this system the US based Boeing is the front runner, and will be discussed for which the US based Boeing is the front runner.

Also on the table for talks is the sale of Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasure. This missile defense system for large aircraft (those which are used by VIPs).

The Integrated Air Defence Weapon System (IADWS) which has already been approved by the US State Department during the Trump administration is also amongst the deals pending.

Six additional P-8I long range maritime patrol aircraft to add to the 12 already contracted for the Indian Navy.

India holds a special status

Designated as Major Defense Partner in 2016 by the Obama administration, under the Trump Administration it acquired Strategic Trade Authorization Tier 1 Status. This status enabled the transfer of sensitive high-tech equipment from the US to India.

Both countries have inked foundational agreements that enable greater interoperability between the defense systems of the two countries. And now, with the Quad becoming a formal grouping the agreements and equipment will help India.

In the meantime…

Post COVID a US Navy Liaison Officer (LO) has been positioned at IFC-IOR.

There is a greater interaction and coordination with CENTCOM and AFRICOM.

Both sides have been talking about increasing the scope and complexities of the joint exercises and setting up of the COMSEC account.

India and the US are also looking at capacity building and other joint cooperation activities in third countries. Peacekeeping, training, and more drills including the neighbouring countries and beyond.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 17 Mar 2021 08:39

^^^Why didn't Blinken come when 2+2 dialog was held with Japan and South Korea? Why is the 2+2 with India deferred until later in Washington? Also, why are Sullivan and Blinken meeting with the Chinese in Alaska right after this meeting on the way back? Seems like the US administration is debriefing the Chinese after talks with allies as opposed to separate meetings with the Chinese on trade and security.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 17 Mar 2021 09:02

^^^^^

Complex issues.

Very simply stated, SD has handed over the Indo-US relations with IN to DoD (for better or worse). The fact that only the SecDef is visiting IN says it all - no serious/complex issues to resolve that require SD at the table.

On a totally diff note, there is a non-GOTUS drive within the US to seriously dislodge Chinese products.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 17 Mar 2021 10:08

^^^

It's not a matter for the worse. Having relations with DoD, particularly operational ones, such as joint sea patrols are useful along with contacts at the Pentagon at the major, captain, colonel levels are very useful as these people may understand India better. They will be promoted to higher level positions in the future. Often, these people will have technical degrees and actual engineering experience. You make friendships at the professional and personal level. The same can't be said about the nitwits in the DoS who have backgrounds in the social "sciences" and law.

It is rather troubling as to why Blinken did not come with Austin. They did do 2+2 meetings with Japan and Korea, so why not India? It was done so in the past. I suspect it has more to do with a slow reset in relations with India to appease the leftists/Islamists sympathizers in the current US administration. It is also very troubling scheduling a meeting with the Chinese before Blinken and Austin return to Washington. On schedule, the DPRK will do a Ding Dong/Long Dong test. If the US was serious, it would wait until all have returned and assessed the 2+2 and India meetings for a coordinated strategy. Again, India has been left in the dark about this, and yet it is India alone which has had to face the PLA invading India in the high mountains of the Himalayas. It seems US international policy has gone completely off the rails.

At this time there is a drive in US industry to find suitable replacement of Chinese products for a few reasons. One is to prevent the theft of IP and the manufacturing process, the second is to avoid the potential disruption by the Chinese of critical components in manufacturing. Finally, the previous administration passed tariffs and penalties, which are not being removed for now, if Chinese origin parts finds their way into defense and infrastructure projects. It is a matter of time when this policy will slowly erode away, but it won't be overnight.

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 17 Mar 2021 15:31

Every US administration needs an external enemy to hold their country together. For some decades it was USSR, then Russia, then Iran Ayatollahs, Taliban, Saddam, Gaddafi, Kim Jong, ISIS.... now its the turn of China.

Only China is a very different beast. It holds trillions of US debt, massive US$ holdings, deep nexus of supply chains with F500 American companies, has a huge, high growth economy, considerable (albeit coercive) influence with a number of countries including 2 nuke armed countries NoKo and Pak, significant technology and military strength.

Biden admin is clear that it must lead the offensive against China, but cannot do it alone, especially in this Covid era. They also seem to realise that show/use of force like it did with so many others in the past is not a viable as the main option. It needs allies to constrain China and constrict its influence and apply a thousand different jhapads.

India has much to gain from this situation, since it will be the major beneficiary of a constrained China and will be able to realise its rise as a major world power - to which it is tantalisingly close. Naturally, US would expect India to not just sit on the sidelines but to do some of the heavy lifting, which both sides are aware India is very much capable of doing. Take India out of the equation and US is left with Japan and Aus which do not bring the needed punch to the table. Japan and Aus are not on the rising power curve like India and would be a lot less motivated to rough it out, their expectation is that China will stop bugging them and let them continue their chugging along. For India on the other hand, China holds immense nuisance value across multiple domains like bilateral trade, UNSC, B&RI, border conflicts, arming insurgents in the north east, egging Pakis, cyber attacks, and generally pissing around in IOR which India justifiably considers as its back yard.

Getting closer to US doesn't mean India will be reduced to do US' bidding. We are already too big for that and we had held our own decades ago when we weren't as big. However, India needs to be very careful regarding some quid pro quos that US may want for "helping India by containing China", like getting India involved deeply in Afghanistan. Biden has already speaking about it. There are 2 reasons why India needs to stick to its own priorities regarding this:

1. That US has to deal with China is not predicated on how it benefits India (though it will), but for its own sake, for preserving its own position as the dominant world power economically and militarily.

2. US has repeatedly shown a tactical (I'm being generous and not calling it myopic) attitude towards Afghanistan, which obviously doesn't work and compels it to keep extending its engagement with no end in sight. US can get away with it since AF is not it its neighbourhood, but for India it is, and the AF situation presents multiple challenges and opportunities that go beyond US' priorities and options.

The sensible thing for India therefore, would be to let US know clearly that cooperation in the Quad or D10 construct is all well and good, but every act of cooperation will be weighed on the scale of self interest. India should put the onus of creating the benefits case for India on every important action, on the US. The US can be "trained" to do so, as even Pakis have shown in the past. The modus operandi for India for the next few months must be to create this reflex among US officials like Blinken and Austin, that before putting ANY proposition in front of India, they need to come prepared with tangibles on what the US will do in return to directly benefit India, and a clear realisation that just mouthing platitudes and promises will not cut any ice with South Block.

Lastly, India should insist on going beyond geopolitics and military aspects to chalk out an ambitious path for deepening economic, environmental, scientific & R&D ties with the US & the Allies, in order to create strong integration and a healthy co-dependency that will not only fortify India's growth but will ensure ensure this "world order redefining relationship" will endure in the coming decades despite changing administrations.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 17 Mar 2021 21:05

Mort Walker wrote:^^^

It's not a matter for the worse. Having relations with DoD, particularly operational ones, such as joint sea patrols are useful along with contacts at the Pentagon at the major, captain, colonel levels are very useful as these people may understand India better. ...

In

SD has handed over the Indo-US relations with IN to DoD

IN = India. Sorry.

It is rather troubling as to why Blinken did not come with Austin. They did do 2+2 meetings with Japan and Korea, so why not India? It was done so in the past. I suspect it has more to do with a slow reset in relations with India to appease the leftists/Islamists sympathizers in the current US administration. It is also very troubling scheduling a meeting with the Chinese before Blinken and Austin return to Washington. On schedule, the DPRK will do a Ding Dong/Long Dong test. If the US was serious, it would wait until all have returned and assessed the 2+2 and India meetings for a coordinated strategy. Again, India has been left in the dark about this, and yet it is India alone which has had to face the PLA invading India in the high mountains of the Himalayas. It seems US international policy has gone completely off the rails.

My view is
1) The Indo-US defense relationship really never changed much, if at all it got better from Obama to Trump, and now to Biden. Since it did not change much, the 2+2 in Oct (Pompeo + Esper) checked all boxes - as far as 2+2 goes

This is not true for US relations with NATO, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and even Australia. During the Trump era all of them faced upheaval in some form or another. Thus, I think, it was more critical for Biden to deal with them at a much lower level = 2+2, etc. I am not too sure, but Biden has yet to call Israel if I am not mistaken.

Point being, of all these relations, the Indo-US is the one that is the most stable today and has been over the past 6 years of so.

2) Which is why Sec Austin going alone makes sense - he has got written confirmation from SD to take next step (that is the hierarchy SD > DoD). I had read a DoD article that Austin will be in India to "operationalize" a few agreements on the Defense side. IF that is true, then it could have happened *only* when all the 2+2 boxes are checked - which is what I meant when I posted

SD has handed over the Indo-US relations with IN to DoD

So, while WRT India the 2+2 is in good shape, with the rest (NATO, etc) Biden needs to build it. On the flip side the ops with the rest have been set for decades, with India ops (mainly info sharing) is just about to get started.

g.sarkar · Post by **g.sarkar** » 19 Mar 2021 11:52

https://www.rediff.com/news/report/rais ... 210319.htm
2 top US senators ask Blinken to raise farmers' issue with India
By Lalit K Jha, March 19, 2021
Two top Democratic senators have urged United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken to raise with the Indian leaders the issue of treatment of peaceful farmer protesters and journalists even as they acknowledged that it is for the people and the Government of India to determine the path forward on its recently enacted farm laws.
In a letter to Blinken, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday urged the Biden administration to further engage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over its treatment of farmers in India who have been peacefully demonstrating against the passage of new farm laws.
Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for their crops.
The government has denied allegations that it was trying to put an end to the MSP and the mandi system.
India has also emphasised that the protests by farmers must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity and the Ministry of External Affairs last month said that some vested interest groups have tried to mobilise international support against the country.
In their joint letter to Blinken, Menendez and Schumer noted that India is a "long-term strategic partner with deep ties to the United States thanks to our many shared values and our large and valued Indian American community."
"In light of these shared values and strong connections, we write with serious concern regarding the response of the Indian government to the farmer protests,” they said.
.....
Gautam

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 19 Mar 2021 12:18

Let them. We could raise many such issues related to contract farming issues within U.S, Global warming issues and how the U.S is the top polluter and nowhere near the U.N set goals, issues of racism and how unequal distribution of vaccine etc etc. And if they go to the Press to show off their arrogance, we must also do the same. This time there must not be holding back with equal equal. Like for one issue reply with similar is real stupidity. For every issue they raise, need replied with 20 issues in the U.S. And above all, the U.S intervention all over the world in toppling govt through their agents must also be raised and U.S told to stop such "Undemocratic and Inhuman practices". Also we must go one step ahead and tell the Amrikhan that "Not satisfactorily addressing the issues of Voter fraud raised during the U.S election including the widely circulated CCTV footage of such fraud in which the votes were seen dumped when no observers were present, raises serious questions about the denigration of democratic traditions and values of the United States. India sees this as an erosion of democratic values and move towards Autocracy." That much will suffice for now.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 19 Mar 2021 12:33

Unclear if they have a specific request. Ultimately the USA has to decide how to pacify its own minorities who are making these requests of the senators. India cannot do it for them.

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 19 Mar 2021 14:17

Nah nah, we should expect and demand of Blinken to be apologetic of the ignorance and boorish attitude of Menendez and Schumer et al. and entertain no broaching of the farmers protest topic.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 19 Mar 2021 14:36

uddu wrote:Let them. We could raise many such issues related to contract farming issues within U.S, Global warming issues and how the U.S is the top polluter and nowhere near the U.N set goals, issues of racism and how unequal distribution of vaccine etc etc. And if they go to the Press to show off their arrogance, we must also do the same. This time there must not be holding back with equal equal. Like for one issue reply with similar is real stupidity. For every issue they raise, need replied with 20 issues in the U.S. And above all, the U.S intervention all over the world in toppling govt through their agents must also be raised and U.S told to stop such "Undemocratic and Inhuman practices". Also we must go one step ahead and tell the Amrikhan that "Not satisfactorily addressing the issues of Voter fraud raised during the U.S election including the widely circulated CCTV footage of such fraud in which the votes were seen dumped when no observers were present, raises serious questions about the denigration of democratic traditions and values of the United States. India sees this as an erosion of democratic values and move towards Autocracy." That much will suffice for now.

Indeed, saar. well said.

the amerikis need an urgent kick in the testimonials onlee and a very harsh reality check.

where we buy weapons from is our own business and is based on India's supreme national interest.

and, no less than an incumbent US president has publicly accused his rival of vote rigging and electoral fraud with partisan private big tech companies openly taking sides in the "democratic" process

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 19 Mar 2021 19:01

The letter from Schumer and Menendez may indeed be the reason for the lack of the 2+2 dialog. The EAM needs to be ready, which I’m sure he is, when a meet happen later this year.

Punjabi · Post by **Punjabi** » 19 Mar 2021 20:19

g.sarkar wrote:https://www.rediff.com/news/report/rais ... 210319.htm
2 top US senators ask Blinken to raise farmers' issue with India
By Lalit K Jha, March 19, 2021
Two top Democratic senators have urged United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken to raise with the Indian leaders the issue of treatment of peaceful farmer protesters and journalists even as they acknowledged that it is for the people and the Government of India to determine the path forward on its recently enacted farm laws.
In a letter to Blinken, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday urged the Biden administration to further engage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over its treatment of farmers in India who have been peacefully demonstrating against the passage of new farm laws.
Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for their crops.
The government has denied allegations that it was trying to put an end to the MSP and the mandi system.
India has also emphasised that the protests by farmers must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity and the Ministry of External Affairs last month said that some vested interest groups have tried to mobilise international support against the country.
In their joint letter to Blinken, Menendez and Schumer noted that India is a "long-term strategic partner with deep ties to the United States thanks to our many shared values and our large and valued Indian American community."
"In light of these shared values and strong connections, we write with serious concern regarding the response of the Indian government to the farmer protests,” they said.
.....
Gautam

That Mandbudhi Menedeeeeez is a corrupt dimwit and so is Shoooooooooooooomer... both pandering to their nutwing... We should express deeeeeep concern about Asian Hate where the MudBudhi Goras will attack Desis also because we are 'Asian' when they want to and 'Terrorists' when they find a piglet trying to blow-up NYC. They go attack Sikhs because of Turban and Beard... about time we should 'AankhMare

' to Blinken and tell him he should go home and Blink Blink and see how his own black president really didn't do much for his own!
About time we tell them just like the Xingooes did in Alaska meeting...stick it to them politely but firmly!

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 19 Mar 2021 21:46

China read them the riot act yesterday in Alaska when US poked them with the usual "hooman rights violations" jab. In a 15 minute long retort , the Chinese foreign minister lectured the US to look within about its own human rights before commenting on others and called such accusations a "collapse of diplomatic norms". It is time for MEA to politely ask US to mind its own business. US needs to make up its mind on market liberalization or protectionism ? They cannot drag India on coals in WTO meetings about farm subsidies and the next day accuse India of implementing anti-farmer laws by endangering subsidies !

AkshaySG · Post by **AkshaySG** » 19 Mar 2021 21:50

There's been quite a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans as well

Should have some Ahmedabad city council discuss and condemn it the same way Seattle and Chicago think they can discuss CAA and farm laws