India-US News and Discussion

shukla · Post by **shukla** » 04 Mar 2010 17:37

He expressed his appreciation to the Pakistani Government and its army for what it is doing. “They’re doing these things in the face of enormous, overwhelming economic problems. They’re doing it in the face of water and energy problems, which are getting more and more of our attention. We, in turn, are trying to increase our support for the Pakistanis”

Halbrooke seems to be hitting all the wrong notes for the Indian's.. This comes close on the heels of his comments on Kabul attack..

shukla · Post by **shukla** » 04 Mar 2010 17:41

Pak should use US weapons only to fight al-Qaida: India to US.

"Given our bitter past experience of how Islamabad used such aid against India, Washington should ensure that the latest tranche of military aid is used only for the purpose of countering al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists and not against India," he(A K Anthony) said in a statement here.

Its probably their "gift" for the 'war on terror'.. don't think they care who its used against. grrr

kgoan · Post by **kgoan** » 04 Mar 2010 18:50

Sorry: Posted in wrong thread.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 04 Mar 2010 20:12

Just throwing some general thoughts in the air folks.

A lot of people on here caution that India must not get close to the US because the US's embrace of any country is deadly. A list of allies shacfted by the US is often posted in these fora.

But I believe that India has decided to bandwagon with the US. Well - let me put it this way.

India, over the decades chose a stance that was not allied with the US. In fact India's original stance was "non alignment". But "not alignment" had to be modified for a stance that appeared (to the US at least) as a pro Soviet stance.

After many decades India has decided (I believe) to change course from a stance of "neutral-to-anti-US" to a far more pro US tilt. India is far from being a US ally but India is certainly moving closer. Just an observation. I have not create this ituation and I have no specific pro or anti feelings about this currently.

However I do believe that India has no other option in the current geopolitical set up. The US may do a lot of anti India things but there was a time when no US action was pro India. By bandwagoning with the US we will have to look for a few scraps thrown our way making a change from the old US stance on India.

Declining or not, the US remains the pre eminent world power. I don't think anyone can doubt that. If the US has a rival everyone say "China" (not india). India has to choose from the cards that exist, and not cards that we would like to have.

I don't think any political party other than the left is seriously against this. The policy will be followed. Just my guess.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 04 Mar 2010 20:38

"its probably their "gift" for the 'war on terror'.. don't think they care who its used against. grrr"

India should hint that any of this weaponry used against India in any manner will lead to criminal culpability for the US.

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 04 Mar 2010 21:57

U.S. is a very cold customer as far as geopolitics is considered. It is also the most powerful country in the world. As such, everyone needs to engage U.S. and that includes India. As a matter of fact India has to engage every country where it has national interests.

In my opinion, India should lay out a few ground rules in dealing with U.S.

1. India should never allow U.S. to interfere in India's bilateral relations with any third country
2. Every give must be followed with a take (quid pro quo). Americans like this kind of arrangement
3. India should never confuse U.S. interests in Pakistan with Indian interests in Pakistan. They can afford the luxury of distinguishing between good Talibans and bad Talibans
4. There should never be any compromise on modernization of Armed forces and nuclear weapons

If India can keep these ground rules in mind, then there is a hope for a bilateral relation that can be productive from Indian perspective.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 05 Mar 2010 03:37

India protests Holbrooke's comments on Kabul attack

India has officially protested to Washington about Richard Holbrooke's comments about Indians not being the targets in the Kabul attack last week. The message was given in both Delhi and Washington, that Holbrooke's comments were not only inaccurate they were most "unhelpful". The issue will figure prominently when foreign secretary Nirupama Rao travels to the US next week.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 05 Mar 2010 03:48

US arms supply to Pak shocks India

Pentagon’s decision to supply sophisticated arms to Islamabad has come as a shock to New Delhi which now seeks Washington’s assurance to ensure that these arms will not be used against India.

As a part of US assistance to counter al-Qaida and Taliban, Pentagon reportedly has admitted supplying laser-guided ammunition, 12 surveillance drones and 18 latest model F-16 fighters. Islamabad will also receive equipment capable of converting 1,000 traditional munitions into “smart bombs” that can strike the targets with precision.
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Expressing concerns over the reported US decision to supply a whole array of sophisticated laser guided bomb kits, surveillance drones and late-model F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, the defence minister said India has bitter past experiences where US arms supplied to Pakistan were used against India.

While the drones and fighter jet deals were known for some time, it is the supply of a large quantity of laser-guided ammunition, which caused the maximum worry.
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Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 05 Mar 2010 03:48

Gerard wrote:India protests Holbrooke's comments on Kabul attack
India has officially protested to Washington about Richard Holbrooke's comments about Indians not being the targets in the Kabul attack last week. The message was given in both Delhi and Washington, that Holbrooke's comments were not only inaccurate they were most "unhelpful". The issue will figure prominently when foreign secretary Nirupama Rao travels to the US next week.

Thank the gods. At last some sign from the GOI that we are tired of the garbage being peddled in Obama's cabinet. I suppose the Americans will murmur soothing words and the whole thing will be forgotten about until it happens again... but still, credit where credit is due. At least something was said. Thanks MMS.

Now I only wish we had also raised with Washington, the canard of 1,000 LGBs and 18 F-16s being supplied to Pakistan by the US for "operations against tribal regions".

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 05 Mar 2010 05:21

'This woman suckered us'

"She suckered us. Suckered us.....this woman suckered us." So said an enraged US president Richard Nixon of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after learning that war had broken out on the subcontinent on Dec 3, 1971, and Indian forces had made a decisive push towards then East Pakistan that it recognised as Bangladesh three days later.

arun · Post by **arun** » 05 Mar 2010 08:41

Gerard wrote:India protests Holbrooke's comments on Kabul attack
India has officially protested to Washington about Richard Holbrooke's comments about Indians not being the targets in the Kabul attack last week. The message was given in both Delhi and Washington, that Holbrooke's comments were not only inaccurate they were most "unhelpful". The issue will figure prominently when foreign secretary Nirupama Rao travels to the US next week.

X Posted:

abhishek_sharma wrote:http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/pr_holbrooke.html

Statement by Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard C Holbrooke

I regret any misunderstanding caused by my comments on the recent terrorist attack in Kabul, which claimed the lives of 6 Indians and at least ten citizens of other nations. I did not say Indians were not the target, but that initially it looked like the target was not an official Indian facility. Early reports on events like this are often unreliable, and I try not to jump to conclusions. We all know that Indian citizens have and continue to be targeted by terrorists, including inside Afghanistan. My heart goes out to the families of all of the victims.

The Afghan people and international community deeply appreciate the very substantial humanitarian and reconstruction assistance that India provides Afghanistan. The willingness of India to take risks and make sacrifices to help Afghanistan is testament to India's commitment global peace and prosperity and a vital part of the international commitment to Afghanistan's future.

arun · Post by **arun** » 05 Mar 2010 08:53

Rudradev wrote:Now I only wish we had also raised with Washington, the canard of 1,000 LGBs and 18 F-16s being supplied to Pakistan by the US for "operations against tribal regions".

Meanwhile one frigate and potentially five more frigates are heading the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s way.

When did Al Qaeda and the Taliban build up a navy? :

Pakistan to pay $78 mn for 30 year old frigate

csharma · Post by **csharma** » 05 Mar 2010 09:08

MD Nalpat on Holbrooke

Holbrooke provides comic relief to Subcontinent

http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=18523

Hence, for the first six months of 2009, Holbrook was kept away from India and had to focus only on Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, there followed several requests from first the State Department and thereafter the White House to allow Holbrook to make official visits to Delhi, and - once again at the level of Manmohan Singh, who wants to go the extra mile so far as both peace with Pakistan and the pleasing of the US is concerned — finally both South and North Block were told to drop their allergy to Holbrook and welcome him to their chambers (to reach which an unfortunate envoy often has to get past an excitable gauntlet of monkeys, who are present in strength on (and on occasion in) both buildings Now that Holbrooke has revealed that he is the only human being on the planet to believe that the numerous attacks on Indian targets in Kabul were entirely the result of mistaken identity by short-sighted Taliban suicide bombers and fighters, the poor man will get an even chillier welcome in Delhi. Before each visitation by Holbrooke, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself takes the initiative to informally ensure that the Afghanistan-Pakistan special envoy be given high-level access, even by ministers and officials who privately say that they would rather not waste their time with an envoy who seems only to repeat the message purveyed by the State Department, that India “should do more to quite the fears of the Pakistan army”.

As North Block has no intention whatsoever of giving General Kiyani an excuse to shift his forces from west to east, Raisina (the Indian Beltway) is perplexed as to what Hillary Clinton means by this litany. Of course, think-tankers close to her say that what she seeks is Indian concessions on Kashmir that would dilute sovereignty over the Valley. If the US Secretary of State truly believes that she or President Obama ( together with allies such as the EU and China) can get India to agree to such a reversal of policy, they have near-zero understanding of Indian politics. Although Prime Minister Singh has long favoured a settlement in Siachen and a re-look at the sharing of river waters, yet the PM is aware that there is no support within even his team for such a soft course towards Pakistan. Were he to go ahead and make the concessions that the Obama administration is seeking, the country would erupt in a Bangladesh-style uproar that would make Manmohan Singh’s continuance in office problematic even for his patron, Sonia Gandhi. Indeed, the Congress Party as well as his Cabinet colleagues (including the suave External Affairs Minister S M Krishna) have thus far refused to publicly echo Manmohan Singh’s numerous calls to “walk the extra mile” for peace. His only supporter is the Minister of State for External Affairs, Sashi Tharoor, who would even welcome Saudi Arabia as an interlocutor in the India-Pakistan tango.

However, what is interesting is that the two Asian giants, India and China, are united in warning against the Pentagon policy of once again funding and facilitating the Taliban. In India, policymakers are united that the only “moderate” Taliban is a jailed Taliban. There is considerable concern in Delhi that the US and the EU, by military tactics that kill many more innocents than terrorists, and by reliance on flawed intelligence that allows the key operators to escape while a few burnt-out cases get caught, are making Afghanistan this decade into what it was in the 1980s,a theatre from where all occupying armies will get ejected. Indian military experts cannot understand why the Afghan army - which is today in the front line of the war against the Taliban - is given equipment that is vastly inferior to that of the NATO forces. The obvious discrimination between the Afghan National Army and NATO is reminiscent of the differential standards of pay and field conditions that were present between Second World War troops of Indian ehnicity and those of British lineage.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 05 Mar 2010 09:26

Do we have enough "actionable evidence"?

I LOVE:

While this may not be what the Obama Administration officially states, it is interesting that unlike Al Qaeda’s members, the Taliban’s cadre are no longer described by the Americans as “terrorists” but as “insurgents”.

Waiting for that day when they turn them into "freedom fighters".

That is when we officially know that the Af-Pak -> Pak-Af ->Kashmir cycle is complete.

Of course, ND will take another 10 years to realize that change in policy.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 05 Mar 2010 10:04

Eventually the US will implement Operation "Cut & Run" from there. Taliban goons will just creep back in.

Its time to start thinking about the post-run scenarios.

negi · Post by **negi** » 05 Mar 2010 10:19

Well Unkil's intentions were always clear they realize that post 26/11 if another such attack takes place even MMS would give in to the public sentiments and TSPA terror machinery would be pounded i.e. Unkil will be left alone in Afganisthan and TSPA will mobilise all their resources on its eastern border . So Unkil plays the chanakian game (well this is what is chanakian) i.e. keep on arming TSP periodically just enough to deter the GOI from pulling the trigger .

The upgraded F-16's with SNIPER ATPs and new Paveway LGBs are a part of the same plan , Hole-broke's comments seem like a nice diversion as far as media is concerned .

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 05 Mar 2010 12:05

What pretext will U.S. have of arming TSP after they decide to run away post - 2012. They would very well realize that TSP will not fight it's "friends" on the behest of the U.S. especially when Unkil is not watching.

On a positive side , we would like the freedom of hitting TSP without the added burden of U.S. Intrests on our back, without another george bush screaming "Restraint Mr. Vajpayee" in the aftermath of another terror strike.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 05 Mar 2010 12:23

Nihat wrote:What pretext will U.S. have of arming TSP after they decide to run away post - 2012.

The argument is that the Taliban and Pakistani terrorists prospered because the US abandoned the region. Therefore, TSP will have to be armed to prevent a repeat.

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 05 Mar 2010 12:30

vera_k wrote:
Nihat wrote:What pretext will U.S. have of arming TSP after they decide to run away post - 2012.
The argument is that the Taliban and Pakistani terrorists prospered because the US abandoned the region. Therefore, TSP will have to be armed to prevent a repeat.

In that case , they are playing a very very dangerous double game of protecting Taliban while also claiming to control them.It's working for the U.S. right now because they are sitting on Pakis heads and demanding results.

This post-U.S. withdrawal plan hinges on the possibility that TSP will ensure no attacks on US or fellow NATO members from Af-Pak area, lets see how long this stands , especially given the increasingly rabid nature of Paki Abduls and emergence of RAPE class extremists like Zaid Hamid who propogate hate against Unkil.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 05 Mar 2010 15:13

Economic Partnership

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will travel to India on April 6-7 to launch the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership in New Delhi with Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

During the trip, Geithner will also visit Mumbai, India's financial center, to meet with Indian and US business leaders. (hope he pays homage to the 26/11 victims and martyrs)

The United States and India signed a landmark nuclear deal in 2008 which allows New Delhi to enter civilian nuclear energy markets for the first time in decades despite its nuclear weapons arsenal.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 05 Mar 2010 16:33

The author found the "spot" perfectly!

In the report about that monkey Holbrooke,the question as to why the Afghan Army is so poorly equipped,inferior to NATO troops provides immediately the answer to the entire US gameplan for that country.

If the Afghans are properly equipped,when the US/NATO forces start withdrawing (in favour of the "good Taliban"),the "good Taliban" will start occupying the space earlier held by NATO.Poorly equipped Afghan troops will not be able to defeat them no matter what their training is.In fact,an Afghan fighter is a good fighter no matter whether he fights in uniform or without it.Years ago the Afghans used to taunt the Pakis saying that, "why should we who have never lost a war,take advice from Pakis who never won one?"

Thus the USA gameplan stand fully exposed.The Afghan Army will not be able to defeat the Taliban with whom the US has cut a deal and that "Taliban" force is none other than the Paki army and ISI controlled and commanded as it was before when the US invaded the country in the aftermath of 9/11.There was a post recently saying that the indecent haste with which Gen.Mush-a-rat agreed to do an about turn in Afghanistan was not just fear for his skin,but to really save the skins of his troops and officers who were trapped masquerading as Talibs .We all know how they were secretly airlifted out of the battle zone.The "deal" cut with the Taliban is actually a deal cut with the Pakis,which is full control over Afghanistan in exchange for the Central Asian oil pipeline to run south through Af-Pak to the Arabian Sea.It is why that no matter what trick India performs for the US,it will always favour the Pakis and screw us every which way.

There is thus NO role for India in the US's gameplan and the GOI must get serious,its act together and defeat this insidious plot perpetrated by the US and Pak.This can only be accomplished by India joining forces with Russia and the other Central Asian states "genuine stakeholders" and not outside "interlopers" as stated before.It is also clear why China is opposed to a return of the hated Taliban and its diabolic ways,which would inspire the Uighars in Xinjiang.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Mar 2010 23:07

negi wrote:Well Unkil's intentions were always clear they realize that post 26/11 if another such attack takes place even MMS would give in to the public sentiments and TSPA terror machinery would be pounded i.e. Unkil will be left alone in Afganisthan and TSPA will mobilise all their resources on its eastern border . So Unkil plays the chanakian game (well this is what is chanakian) i.e. keep on arming TSP periodically just enough to deter the GOI from pulling the trigger .

The upgraded F-16's with SNIPER ATPs and new Paveway LGBs are a part of the same plan , Hole-broke's comments seem like a nice diversion as far as media is concerned .

Correct assessment. Its to deter the Indian forces from launching a Cold Start response. And hopefully allow the TSPA to shift its forces Westwards. It means the TSPA namrads are going to rely on fizzleya to defend in case of a Cold Start becomes Warm. And a big loss of H&D if things come to a head.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 06 Mar 2010 00:13

Hide your money under your mattress - Geithner to travel to India in early April

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/geithn ... 2010-03-04

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will travel to India in early April to take part in bilateral economic talks, the department announced Thursday. Geithner will participate in the first U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership meeting, designed to strengthen ties between the two countries. The talks are modeled on similar dialogue with China. During the meeting on April 6, cabinet officials from the two countries will meet to discuss economic policy, the banking sector and infrastructure spending. President Barack Obama announced the partnership during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's state visit last November.

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 06 Mar 2010 00:18

Geithner babu will advise GOI to buy more T bills.Also keep the printing press running 24/7

Malayappan · Post by **Malayappan** » 08 Mar 2010 11:15

KP Nayar writes on MMS' visit to US - Iran shadow hangs over Singh’s visit to US

If Singh hopes to paper over the issue with his textbook statement about Iran’s nuclear programme – which he has used on almost every previous visit to the US – it will dent the support for India from constituencies here -- especially the powerful Jewish lobby -- which helped push the nuclear deal with the Bush administration.

If the Prime Minister goes along with the US line on Iran, which is facing waning support worldwide, India will be accused of being a US lackey

And meanwhile

However, neither Holbrooke’s clarification nor his expression of regret has been made public in Washington, Islamabad or Kabul. In fact, state department spokesman P.J. Crowley expressed surprise when he was told about the US embassy statementl

chiragAS · Post by **chiragAS** » 08 Mar 2010 13:16

was thinking about the EULA, GOI says we have got our way by doing some changes to it like
"we decide time and place"
even if we decide and say we don't wanna let those inspectors (read secret agents in disguise)
to come to our forward bases, how long would we be able to afford to bring these birds from forward
bases just to satisfy them. the fuel cost of bringging 126 birds if not, all at a time still even in batches of a squad
it would be a costly affair. finally when this cost goes to too high IAF will ask these guys to go to the bases
rather than bringging the birds to the place where are put up say like bangalore airport or Kalai.

effectively making the Indian change to EULA virtually non existant.. no?

Like noted earlier, these inspectors are here only to steal info from on board computers on the disguise of checking

and now they will sign the CISMOA soon again with some ridiculous change which would effectively mean nothing

Stupid GOI

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 08 Mar 2010 13:45

It is a afct that the US did help us in the aftermath of '62.We got C-119 Packet transports abd some other eqpt. that proved their worth for a long time.In addition,a covert Indo-US op where sensors were placed in the Himalayas to detect Chines encelar tests at Lop Nor were revealed many decades later.

The problem afflicting current indo-US relations is that despite India :tilting" towards the US,the attituide of the US is not that of an equal.The US places its relationship with rent-boy Pak first and foremost.Secondly,it places China ahead of India when it comes to globals ecurity affairs,preferring to talk to China on issues such as ASian security,NoKo,etc.,leaving India ut of the picture.The US has NEVER wanted India to exercise with US CENTCOM troop/forces at all (the priviliege of the Pakis),and have clubbed India with their Asia-Pacific forces fror any cooperation.It is as if a red dividing line has been vertically drawn on the map longitudinally,with Pak on the western side and India on the eastern side.A grotty little pestliential entity called Pak by virtue of its sponsoring of anti-US terror, has the US by the balls,blackmailing it into continuous suppport to prop up a virtual military dictatorship,while democratic India is treated like the uniformed flunkey at a diplomatic party,present at the event but in the worng role wearing the wrong clothes!

However,one cannot blame the US too much though if this is all that Dr.,Singh and the Congress coterie aspires for.From time to time we thunder forth against remarks from Gates,etc.,but when it comes to crunch time,it is India that is "crunched" as we have seen meekly submitting to Uncle Sam's diktat to talk to Pak,letting Pak off the hook.No wonder the US treats India as a "half-naked-fakir",colonial style,as a market for its goods and services and a huge resource for India's brain and its brawn (UN peacekeeping).It is now is looking to see how the vast Indian military manpower resources can be used for outsourcing some dirty work in the future conflicts.For that to happen though,the entire Indian military machine must be integrated with US forces,especially communications and weapon systems,hence the indecent haste to inveigle the GOI to buy US weaponry.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 08 Mar 2010 14:22

chiragAS wrote:was thinking about the EULA, GOI says we have got our way by doing some changes to it like
"we decide time and place"

A fairly naive take on the complexity of the issue. There is a thread on EUMA, spend time on it.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 09 Mar 2010 01:28

Philip wrote: The US has NEVER wanted India to exercise with US CENTCOM troop/forces at all (the priviliege of the Pakis),and have clubbed India with their Asia-Pacific forces fror any cooperation.It is as if a red dividing line has been vertically drawn on the map longitudinally,with Pak on the western side and India on the eastern side.

US wants to keep India away from CENTCOM since when there is a real war between Pakistan and India CENTCOM will support the PA either covertly or overtly.
India is allowed to contact only PACOM which will be only a supporting role during any conflict in the Indian subcontinent. This is the same way the British used to be in the officer class of band be oth Indian army and the Pakistan army after partition. They exchanged information from both sides to help Pakistan attack Kashmir in 1948 and keep India from helping Kashmir.
CENTCOM and PACOM will exchange ideas in the event of a war and will tilt the war to one side and be a pivot

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 09 Mar 2010 03:44

Philip wrote: The US has NEVER wanted India to exercise with US CENTCOM troop/forces at all (the priviliege of the Pakis),and have clubbed India with their Asia-Pacific forces fror any cooperation.It is as if a red dividing line has been vertically drawn on the map longitudinally,with Pak on the western side and India on the eastern side.

Or it may be just bureaucratic inertia.
http://www.fpri.org/enotes/military.200 ... olicy.html

Re-Mapping U.S. Defense Policy

by Michael P. Noonan

June 17, 2002

Michael P. Noonan is deputy director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Program on National Security. Most recently, he is coauthor (with John Hillen, Director of the program) of “The Promise of Decisive Action,” Orbis (Spring 2002).

Even though embroiled in a global war against terrorism, the United States continues to view and conceptualize the world along Cold War lines. This is particularly the case in the realm of military organization. Today, the Department of Defense is organized into four regional combatant commands (the Southern, European, Central, and Pacific Commands). This pattern of organization is a carry-over from the days of the Cold War for a global struggle against a vanished empire rather than for the threats that we now face— and will continue to face in the new millennium. While we hear daily dispatches from Washington and the Pentagon about the need to “transform” our forces to meet the changing security concerns of the 21st century, we rarely hear of a corresponding transformation in the way we think about the world. True, the Quadrennial Defense Review of 2001 did reorient the focus from Europe to the Pacific Rim, but a new look at the political and cultural geography of the world suggests that the old regional command structures need a thorough overhaul and realignment in order to promote American national interests and to promote peace and stability. A continuation of business as usual using the same command structures will only increase American security vulnerabilities, and will hamper our ability to shape the international environment.

and

But the current regional command structure does not mirror the geostrategic realities emerging in the Arc of Turmoil. For instance, Special Operations Forces currently conducting operations against elements of the al Qaeda network in the Republic of Georgia, Afghanistan, and the Philippines report through EUCOM, CENTCOM, and PACOM, respectively. This makes coordination difficult by adding several layers of bureaucracy— not to mention layers of compartmentalization— between operational units that would benefit from a better exchange of information, etc.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 09 Mar 2010 04:00

Or see this student (Military College) paper:
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD ... tTRDoc.pdf

The author points out that the US National Security Council, Department of Defense, Department of State, the US Treasury, the CIA, all have different regionalizations of the world, to the detriment of doing anything.

He then goes on to point out:

The National Security Council’s structure, including its regional bureau framework,
changes at the whim of each administration. Lacking a definitive response from the current
NSC staff for today’s layout, one can only state with any assurance that the structure reflects the intellectual orientation of the Advisor to the President for National Security Affairs, who heads the NSC staff, and what he or she is comfortable using as bureaucratic scaffolding based on the world situation at the time he or she takes office. In short, the NSC staff’s regional divisions are personality driven, much more so than either of the two departmental members of our triumvirate.

State Department’s regional framework is also open to change, but the driving factors and conditions are often different, and the process—once initiated—somewhat more formal. A
senior permanent staffer within the department described State’s approach to reorienting its
map in this way: “There is no automaticity [set frequency or trigger] to our reviews. There is
precedent [from past changes], there is a process [of staffing, review and approval], but there is no automaticity.”

Regarding DOD

The regional orientation of the Department of Defense is roughly as flexible as that of State, but seems less driven by administrative/management considerations. At the same time, the Defense review process is far more formalized than State’s. It is set by the Unified Command Plan (UCP). The UCP is amended frequently (twenty times since 1946, thrice in the past three years), sometimes in major ways—such as the creation of a new Combatant Command. Most often, though, the changes are relatively minor: shifting a particular set of missions from one geographic Combatant Commander to another, or responsibility for a single country between commands . Unfortunately, this constant tinkering makes it nearly impossible to establish a holistic explanation for why Defense currently organizes the globe as it does.

He then speculates

Finally, if one takes an educated guess at the Joint Staff’s reasoning, one can also understand the Defense Department’s dividing line running between Pakistan and India: the Combatant Commanders of CENTCOM and PACOM can, thanks to this boundary, work with their Pakistani and Indian military counterparts while disavowing responsibility for the United States’ policies with respect to the other (the ‘not my job’ disclaimer).

What is evident from his paper is that creating a coordinated action across all the government agencies to apply to a particular country is much more of a headache than it ought to be.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 09 Mar 2010 04:59

India, US iron out key differences over reprocessing

India and US have bridged key differences towards finalising a pact on the arrangements and procedures for reprocessing US-origin spent fuel. The text, sources said, was almost sealed at expert-level talks last week and the negotiations are practically over with no more meetings likely to be held now.
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However, both sides got stuck on tricky issues with US officials insisting that India give the non-proliferation assurances as enshrined in the US Atomic Energy Act. New Delhi, on its part, made it clear that it would not step beyond the template of assurances enshrined in the 123 agreement, which itself had been arrived at after tough negotiations.

While this was resolved subsequently by way of introducing language acceptable to both sides, the other issue was that of the termination clause. This appears to have been more tricky than expected but, sources said, a way forward has been achieved in the meeting held in India last week.

The talks were led by R B Grover of the Department of Atomic Energy on the Indian side while the US delegation was led by Richard Stratford, the non-proliferation and disarmament expert in the State Department.

The third issue pertained to the number of fuel storage and reprocessing facilities as well as their security. It may be noted that the understanding reached during the 123 negotiations was that India will set up a dedicated reprocessing facility for US and other foreign-origin fuel under IAEA safeguards. During these negotiations, India proposed that it be allowed to set up not just one but multiple facilities. The US, sources said, does seem to have accepted this proposal.
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abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 09 Mar 2010 09:58

Press release on the visit of Foreign Secretary

http://www.indianembassy.org/newsite/pr ... /Mar/1.asp

Washington, DC
March 8, 2010

Foreign Secretary will be visiting Washington and New York from March 14-19th 2010. She will be co-chairing the 7th meeting of the India – US High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) with Dennis F. Hightower, Deputy Secretary of Commerce on March 15-16. This is the first meeting of the HTCG after the new administration assumed office in the US. Both sides hope to consolidate the progress made in the last five years and move ahead to significantly expand bilateral trade in strategic and high technology areas.

The HTCG was formed in 2002 to provide a forum for discussing U.S.-India high-technology trade issues and building the confidence necessary to facilitate trade in sensitive items. The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) will host the industry dialogue on March 15, 2010 in Washington, DC. This industry dialogue is organized in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

During this meeting, U.S. and Indian industry representatives have an opportunity to discuss ways in which the two governments can facilitate trade in specific industry sectors, and make suggestions to the Governments of India and the USA. These industry suggestions provide substantive input for bilateral government meetings that occur the following day.

Apart from meetings in the Commerce Department, FS will also be meeting senior members of the US Administration as well as the US Congress during her stay in Washington.

India and the US had agreed on establishing a Strategic Dialogue to be co-chaired by EAM and Secretary of State and also a revised Dialogue Architecture last year during the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to India. FS in her meetings in the State Department will review the progress made on various elements of the revised dialogue architecture and also discuss the way ahead in preparation for the visit of EAM to the US later this year for the next round of Strategic Dialogue. Regional and global issues of mutual interest would also figure in these talks.

Manas · Post by **Manas** » 09 Mar 2010 10:56

Folks,

There is a worrisome trend in statements being attributed to Mr. Holbrooke. There seems to be a new bogey about "water" being raised. There seems to be a concerted effort from the U.S. "interlocutors" to give airtime and prominence to TSP's claims about India "diverting" TSP"s fair share of water.

Perhaps, a subtle effort to broaden the dispute from a what is currently based on religious ideology (from TSP's perspective) to that of a "downstream" state's justified concerns about "unfair" treatment from a big, aggressive neighbor. Broadens the dispute from a purely "politico-religious" one to that of an "economic" one.

Something to watch out for.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 09 Mar 2010 12:12

where is he talking water?

and how is it his business when US does not share its water resources with Mexico on a fair basis?

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 09 Mar 2010 12:36

Custody battle involving founder of SKS Microfinance. Said to be friend of the Gandhis with uncle Hanumantha Rao serving for INC in the Rajya Sabha.Posting here since we don't have a AP-US thread since the story has a lot of detail about how the business was founded. Reminds me a lot of the K Sub story about the need to encourage Indian immigration to US so said emigres can start businesses similar to how the Chinese emigres did earlier.

Hoffman estates mom fighting to bring son home from India

American born 8 year old boy held hostage in Hyderabad

Tyranny in the courts

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 09 Mar 2010 12:56

Neshant wrote:where is he talking water?

and how is it his business when US does not share its water resources with Mexico on a fair basis?

Boss, all this equal equal stuff with US only possible on BR to show our imptent anger. In real world, US is a super power. They will demand that India staisfy the blood thirst of their TSP ally, be it on water or another issue. What they do or don't with Mexico, or double standards with respect to terror etc are of irrelevance when mighty USA decides to pursue its inteersts. For that matter, which Indian leader, least of all MMS, can point to USA's gall in asking India to cut its ties with Iran even as US pumps billions into the India-specific Paki terror eneterprise. Has MMS or any Indian leader dare point to this obvious double standard?

sourab_c · Post by **sourab_c** » 09 Mar 2010 20:54

Holbrooke's comments on Kabul attack surprises India

AND now this...

No U.S. word on Reliance's fuel sale to Iran: India

"The government of India has conveyed to the U.S. government that sanctions on Iran have proved to be counter-productive and that all differences with Iran should be resolved through dialogue and negotiations," Jitin Prasada told parliament on Tuesday.

Well played by GOI!

arun · Post by **arun** » 09 Mar 2010 22:32

abhishek_sharma wrote:Press release on the visit of Foreign Secretary

http://www.indianembassy.org/newsite/pr ... /Mar/1.asp

Washington, DC
March 8, 2010

Foreign Secretary will be visiting Washington and New York from March 14-19th 2010. She will be co-chairing the 7th meeting of the India – US High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) with Dennis F. Hightower, Deputy Secretary of Commerce on March 15-16. This is the first meeting of the HTCG after the new administration assumed office in the US. Both sides hope to consolidate the progress made in the last five years and move ahead to significantly expand bilateral trade in strategic and high technology areas.

The HTCG was formed in 2002 to provide a forum for discussing U.S.-India high-technology trade issues and building the confidence necessary to facilitate trade in sensitive items. ..................{Snipped}

Meanwhile this is the list of Indian entities which are subject to the US technology denial regime:

1) The following subordinates of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO):

Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE)
Defense Research and Development Lab (DRDL), Hyderabad
Missile Research and Development Complex
Solid State Physics Laboratory.

2) The following Department of Atomic Energy entities:

Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC)
Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Center (IGCAR)
Indian Rare Earths
Nuclear reactors (including power plants) not under International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) safeguards (excluding Kundankulam 1 and 2), fuel reprocessing and enrichment
facilities, heavy water production facilities and their collocated ammonia plants.

3) The following Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) subordinate entities:

-Liquid Propulsion Systems Center
-Solid Propellant Space Booster Plant (SPROB)
-Sriharikota Space Center (SHAR)
-Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.

From here:

Supplement No. 4 to Part 744 - ENTITY LIST

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 10 Mar 2010 05:58

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD9EBD4RO2

PA woman "Jihad Jane" charged with recruiting for Al Qaeda on the Internet.

The woman is from Montgomery County... just outside Philadelphia where Headley grew up. She is also charged with conspiring to murder a Swedish cartoonist who drew one of the famous Jyllands Posten cartoons of Mohammed. Interesting when you consider Headley's own plot against the Danish paper.

Wonder if Headley pig's squealing led the Feds to Jihad Jane?