India-US News and Discussion

[ramana]

No. When you find out you cant count on anything you become like that. The hollowness is in certain areas that are important for national power.

[csharma]

Good article on the upcoming MMS-Obama summit.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/200 ... 060800.htm

Manmohan Singh’s State visit to the US — Let not the fizz pass for stuff

Unless the PM’s US visit leads to concrete action on issues such as cross-border terrorism, Chinese intransigence and permanent membership to the UN Security Council, it would have failed to live up to its billing, says B. S. RAGHAVAN.

There is a spirit of the vaudeville in Americans. When they set their hearts to it, no one can beat them in charm offensive. They will go all out, they will pull out all stops to give a rousing build-up to any person or country favoured by them for the nonce as an instrumentality to advance their interests.

(Of course, the opposite is true as well: Nobody can rival them in making demons of those they hate, whether it is an Allende, a Saddam or a Mugabe, and going all out to ruthlessly destroy them.)

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had better remember this long-established American trait when he starts on his journey to Washington in the last week of this month. It has been given a fabulous billing as the first State visit by any foreign head of Government after the Obama Administration came to office.

What is noteworthy is that the White House spin doctors have been able to rope in the American media to sing hallelujahs to India and Dr Singh, whereas its normal attitude is one of indifference to visits of anyone other than the leaders of the industrialised countries.
Question of questions

One can be sure that that kind of a piece of paper will make the people look at all future visits with derision. So, what is it that is new and dramatic that the Americans have planned to roll out to make all the tamasha worthwhile both for them and the Indians? Nothing is evident on the surface.

[Vikas]

Why do we depend upon USA to provide ownership of Asia or Indian subcontinent to China or India or to any other country. If you want the ownership, go and grab it. No one is going to give it to you on a platter.
So stand up and be counted. Why whine that US and China have said something in some communication somewhere.
We have seen Robin Raphael and Half-bright's days and we will see this storm through.

[Singha]

GOI seems bent on positioning India as a south korea or singapore style "Munna"

[AdityaM]

Bushs last official dinner was with MMS. Obamas first is with MMS
whats with MMS and dinners?

[derkonig]

Bushs last official dinner was with MMS. Obamas first is with MMS
whats with MMS and dinners?

sellouts and mortgaging national interests.

[Rupesh]

Bushs last official dinner was with MMS. Obamas first is with MMS
whats with MMS and dinners?

sellouts and mortgaging national interests.

can't say so early.. let's wait 4 a few more days.

Personally i feel MMS has his shortcommings but definitely he is not a sellout.

[sanjaykumar]

MMS has almost single-handedly pulled millions of Indians out of poverty. India needs more sell-outs like him.

[pgbhat]

India/USA: Open Letter to Barak Obama Ahead of his Visit to India ---- Amnasty.

[ramana]

From Tribune, 19 Nov 2009

No dialogue at this stage
Pakistan must honour its word on terrorism
by K. Subrahmanyam

A debate is on in the country whether India should accede to the Pakistani demand and get into the composite dialogue that was suspended in the wake of the 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai. The Pakistanis maintain that without the resumption of the dialogue and reduction of Indian forces on their eastern borders they are unable to put in optimum military effort in their war against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. It is claimed that this view has the support of some American officials also.

Others argue that dialogue with a nuclear neighbour is not only desirable but also imperative, and communication interruption is not in our interest. Some Indian analysts expect that the Prime Minister will come under pressure during his summit meeting with President Obama on November 24 to yield to the Pakistan demand for the resumption of the composite dialogue process.

The Indian stand has been that Pakistan should show adequate seriousness in prosecuting the 26/11 case and there should be action against the Lashkar -e-Toiba chief, Hafiz Saeed. Since American, Israeli, British, French and Singapore nationals were killed in the 26/11 terrorist strike, the Government of India owes it to its people as well as to the people of those countries that justice is done. Pakistan is not only testing India’s tolerance in this case but also that of the Americans. The US has the recordings of the phone conversations between the terrorists and their handlers. Pakistan has refused US agencies access to the accused in its custody. The Pakistanis have problems in bringing the LeT accused to trial since that would expose the Pakistani Army’s sponsorship of the attack.

Some new information is emerging with the arrest of David Headley and Tahawwur Rana by the FBI in Chicago. It would appear that Headley and Rana may be connected with the 26/11 attack and this is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in India. In the chargesheet filed in the US courts there are references to an unidentified person of the LeT and it is possible that it may be another Army officer whose identity is being shielded at present by the FBI.

If India’s NIA were to establish a connection between Headley and Rana and the 26/11 attack then the case in Chicago will take a different turn and those two will also be culpable for the killings on 26/11, including that of the Americans. Imagine the outrage in India, the US and elsewhere if the Government of India were to yield on the composite dialogue even as the Pakistanis dodge the 26/11 trial and the Hafiz Saeed case and Headley and Rana get involved in the case. After Pakistan received $13 billion from the US the Republicans, whose handling of General Musharraf during the last seven years, according to President Obama, only produced mixed results, will be able to criticise the President for being soft on those who killed six Americans on 26/11.

If Pakistan gets away with this dodging they will be emboldened to find new excuses not to commit themselves wholeheartedly to defeat the jihadis and dismantle their insfrastructure. They have already started complaining that while they push the Taliban into the Afghan territory in South Waziristan the US and NATO forces on the other side of the Durand Line are not playing their roles effectively. The Pakistan Army is looking for excuses not to carry out its campaign against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and its associate organisations. They have excuses galore — that the US and NATO are not doing their job, the US is not making funds and equipment available for use or the Indian Army is on the eastern border.

The composite dialogue was agreed to by Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee in January 2004 on General Musharraf’s assurance that no territory under Pakistani control would be allowed to be used to launch terrorist attacks on India. Not only 26/11 was launched from Pakistani soil but also the Pakistanis are making a mockery of the trial on the one side and arguing that Hafiz Saeed had been set free by the judiciary. It is obvious to both the Indian and US authorities that the Pakistani government is not interested in making out a case against Hafiz Saeed. Putting up a bad case and getting an accused acquitted is one of the oldest tricks of corrupt policemen.

President Obama has made it clear that Pakistan did not face any threat from India. He asserted, “So make no mistake, Al-Qaeda and its extremist allies are a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within.” The Pakistani argument that they are unable to shift their troops to fight the Taliban without troop reduction by India amounts to taking a stand that they would rather die of terrorist cancer than look at India realistically and not through a hate prism. India had never started a war. All four wars between the two countries were started by Pakistan. Indian troops are on the border because of Pakistan waging a covert war against India since 1989.

By putting forward this excuse of composite dialogue, a solution to the Kashmir problem and not taking effective action against jihadis, Pakistan wants to preserve its terrorist instrumentalities not only against India but the US as well. Without the US being subjected to a terrorist threat, money will not flow from Washington. Therefore, the LeT has to operate in the US and threaten it with various terrorist acts from time to time. Consequently, we have Headleys, Ranas and Zazis (arrested in Denver), and there may be more we do not know about.

An uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is essential. But undertaking it at this stage will send a wrong message to them both from the Indian and US points of view. To initiate a dialogue when the Pakistanis are laughing at India and the US that they are able to get away with the terrorist murder without getting anybody even legally proceeded against seriously will be counterproductive.

Two steps are essential before any dialogue can be considered. We should wait till the Indian investigation of the Headley-Rana case is completed. Secondly, Pakistan should demonstrate seriousness in respect of its commitment to disrupt and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and defeat the jihadis. That includes the 26/11 trial and action against Hafiz Saeed.

Pakistani Army officers are of the view they have been able to outsmart not only Indians but the Americans as well. They got their nuclear weapon, billions dollars producing “mixed results” in Mr Obama’s words, have sustained their jihadi organisations and have not been punished though Pakistanis shot CIA men in 1993, tried to blow up the World Trade Centre in 1993, sent money to the lead hijacker of 9/11 and Pakistani Khalid Sheikh Mohammed plotted the operation.

They gave asylum and sustained Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, and allowed the Afghan Taliban to regroup and use their territory as safe haven. Yet they received massive aid from the US during this time. Let not the Pakistanis continue to feel that they can outsmart the US and India by getting the dialogue started without fulfilling their commitments.

[sanjaykumar]

Pakistani Army officers are of the view they have been able to outsmart not only Indians but the Americans as well.


Yes, here is a deep metaphor for India Pakistan.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eMkth8FWno

[csharma]

ANALYSIS-U.S. weighs India ties over Pakistan fears

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - When U.S. President Barack Obama welcomes India's prime minister on a visit to Washington next week, there will be one nervous onlooker: Pakistan.

With Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ready to flesh out a new partnership between the two giant democracies, Pakistan may find its status as the oldest U.S. ally in South Asia threatened by India's newfound political and economic heft in Washington.

"Few relationships will matter more to the course of human events in the 21st Century than the partnership between India and the United States," U.S. Undersecretary of State for political affairs, William Burns, told a seminar on Wednesday.

"A rising India is essential to the peaceful and prosperous world that the United States seeks."

Rich U.S. praise for India is likely to go down badly in Islamabad, which has seen its longtime rivalry with New Delhi given fresh focus by the U.S-led war in Afghanistan, where each side fears the other may gain an upper hand.

"Nobody talks about a (U.N.) Security Council seat for Pakistan, nobody talks about Pakistan as influencing the course of economic and financial events around the world. India's choices matter," said Evan Feigenbaum, a former senior State Department official now at the Council on Foreign Relations.

"For the United States intellectually but also operationally it is high time to think about India as not just a South Asian power," he said at a conference.

But Pakistan's charges that India is arming Baluch rebels and using Indian consulates in Afghanistan for anti-Pakistan activities also get short shrift, other analysts say.

"When the United States says it does not have information on this, they are not actually looking. India is our new friend and we don't want to know what they are doing," said Christine Fair, an India expert at Georgetown University.

[Rony]

MMS has almost single-handedly pulled millions of Indians out of poverty. India needs more sell-outs like him.

It was not MMS who was the architect of reforms but Narshimha Rao. MMS was oppossed to reforms in the late 1980s until 91. It was Narshimha Rao who made the decision to reform .MMS came on board later .

[Sanku]

MMS has almost single-handedly pulled millions of Indians out of poverty. India needs more sell-outs like him.

It was not MMS who was the architect of reforms but Narshimha Rao. MMS was oppossed to reforms in the late 1980s until 91. It was Narshimha Rao who made the decision to reform .MMS came on board later .

Actually the die was cast by Yashwant Singh, when he chose to send the gold abroad and chart the course for getting Forex by opening up the economy.

His other choices were to not send the gold aboard, but default on the loans and take further loans on even worse terms etc (those grown up in that time remember the discussion on debt trap being floated then)

Yashwant Sinha took a bet that India will be able to get back the gold once it opens up and economy performs.

Narasimha Rao (to whom much credit is due) ensured that the plan worked.

MMS was the babu who implemented what he was told to do.

[vera_k]

To add to that, both of Mr. MMS's terms have been meek on the reform front so far. Maybe they can redeem themselves in the 4.5 years left on this term to earn their reformist credentials.

Found this on the wiki. It talks about the need to share more revenue with the states (something you hear a lot about from Mr. Modi) and supports my point about allowing states to levy income taxes.

[sanjaykumar]

This critical juncture of modern Indian history needs to be carefully researched and documented. Opinions need to be solidified in facts.

[Hari Seldon]

This critical juncture of modern Indian history needs to be carefully researched and documented. Opinions need to be solidified in facts.

Sure. Fact that 1962 war documents are yet to be declassified because they might just perhaps cast a negative light on a certain blue-bloodline should say something for the official documentation of history as modern as 1992.

[ramana]

From Pioneer, 19 Nov 2009

NATION | Thursday, November 19, 2009 | Email | Print |


Terror, N-deal top agenda of PM-Obama talks

PNS | New Delhi

Terrorism, nuclear deal and the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan will figure prominently in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s talks with President Barack Obama in Washington next week.

...
Elaborating on the talks during the Prime Minister’s five-day visit starting on Sunday, US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer said cooperation in counter-terrorism would be high on the agenda.

The two leaders will also discuss implementation of the historic civil nuclear agreement, he said, adding that a few issues like liabilities, licensing and reprocessing remained to be sorted out. There were five or six issues pertaining to the deal which needed to be addressed and three of them were now taken care of. The US was optimistic that the remaining issues would also be resolved soon, Roemer told reporters.

Climate change, education and poverty alleviation would also come up for discussion during the Singh-Obama meeting and the two sides were expected to unveil a “new relationship based on strategic global partnership” and chalk out a path of cooperation for meeting global challenges, according to Roemer.

....
the US envoy said the seven Mumbai suspects should be brought to justice in Pakistan. “We need to see action and results from our partners in Pakistan,” he said, adding that Lashkar-e-Tayyeba chief Hafiz Saeed should be brought to justice.

Roemer said the US and India would work together to protect their citizens from terrorism, which would entail exchange in information and technologies.

....

Replying to another question on the delay in implementation of the civil nuclear deal, the US envoy said four to five issues were yet to be resolved, when he arrived in India as Ambassador earlier this year, though ‘tremendous progress’ has been made.

These issues are enactment of a liability legislation by India, negotiations on setting up of a dedicated reprocessing facility in India and licensing aspects. “We are optimistic that all three issues will be resolved soon. We are pushing hard to implement the agreement,” said Roemer.

He added that Singh and Obama would discuss non-proliferation, along with issues related to Green initiatives and linkages between educational institutions.

So most likely some form of ENR under deep safeguards will be agreed to. Liability in case of nuke accident is another area along with easing export controls. If there is no progress on these it will lead to losing the Indian market to rest of NSG.

I think there will be announcing the opening of US uty campuses in India- Harvard, Yale, Columbia etc. Maybe tie-ups with current utys or greenfield campuses.

Related will be pharma research SEZs.

Some green initiatives will also be announced: Solar plants in Rajasthan etc. And cooperation on Copenhagen summit.

Need to watch the dialog on arms control measures: FMCO as there is a defacto test ban in place.

[Mort Walker]

Poltico.com is keeping an update on the state dinner for MMS. Its interesting to read from a gossip PoV, but it may give us some insight in to the thinking of the policy pundits.
http://www.politico.com/click/stories/0 ... _dish.html

[ramana]

Among athletes, football player Brandon Chillar and his dad were invited to last State dinner as he is Indian origin. So I dont know what athletes who are non-Indians got invited last time. Also the relationship is civilian. So unlike with TSP, military officials are not expected.

[Mort Walker]

Politico updated that Chairman of JC of staff Adm. Mike Mullen are invited along with M. Night Shyamalan.

[Prem]

Khosla is investing big time in Renewable Enregy. He is well know VC and there are many Desi CEOs running high tech companies in the Sillicon valley. If these type of people are not invited then Obama;s thinking is not positive and Indians should prepare themselves for Carter2.

[putnanja]

Before PM trip, India prop for US economy - K.P. NAYAR

Washington, Nov. 19: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will gently rub in India’s relative economic health compared with America’s financial disarray to underline India’s importance to the US during his four-day stay here.
...
...
Some 20 hours after the Prime Minister lands here shortly after noon on Sunday, seven of India’s corporate giants will ostentatiously sign collaboration agreements with their US counterparts that will be seen as contributing to the oxygen that many American conglomerates desperately need to survive in an economy that continues to be Obama’s weakest spot.

“Not one of these agreements will be for outsourcing to India,” one CEO, whose company is a party to one of the deals to be signed on Monday, proudly told The Telegraph yesterday.
..
“These are agreements which will create jobs for Americans and, of course, help upgrade Indian corporations. But they will showcase a different India in the US. It is a complete turnaround from the PL-480 days when we went to Washington, hat in hand,” said the CEO.
...
...
The strategy to put economy front and centre during the Prime Minister’s 93-hour stay in Washington has the imprimatur of Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and India’s “sherpa” at the summits of G-20, which India is putting at the heart of its global outreach.
..
...
As a consequence, the Prime Minister’s Office turned down a request from US commerce secretary Gary Locke for a meeting with Singh during his stay in Washington. Locke would have brought up the prickly issue of world trade talks and the stalled Doha Round at such a meeting.

Miffed at the rejection of his request, at the time of writing this, Locke has decided to skip town on Monday and will return only after the Prime Minister has left Washington for Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday morning, a senior official of the Obama administation said.
...
...

[putnanja]

US: Expert who infuriated India offered key post

South Asia expert Christine Fair has been offered a top position in the Obama [ Images ] administration, and that too to specifically handle the India [ Images ] portfolio. The former Rand Corporation expert on South Asia infuriated New Delhi [ Images ] alleging that India was meddling in Balochistan.

Fair, currently assistant professor in security studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, has been offered the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs with responsibilities to work specifically on the India portfolio.

However, Fair told rediff.com that she would most likely decline the offer because she doesn't want to give up her academic research.

...
...
"I am a mixed bag for Indians," she said. "I am not an advocate for any country. I am an advocate for my country."
...
...
When reminded about the controversy her allegations on the Foreign Affairs discussion provoked, Fair still held to the credibility of her contention.

"I believe it to be true," she said, adding: "The problems with the Pakistanis is that they lie too much and so, that when they tell the truth, no one believes them."

She argued that "Actually, I am not normative about it -- India should be doing this and they should be doing more of it, if I may be so blunt. So, I've never said, 'Shame on the Indians.'"

But Fair asserted that "nothing that India could possibly do, without being observed as they tend to have not been observed, could ever rival what the Pakistanis have done, and it doesn't justify blowing up consulates and embassies and killing people."

"I stand by what I wrote..." Fair said, "Yes, I think the Indians are up to stuff in Balochistan, as they should be. (But) It's not what the Pakistanis say they are up to."

....
...
"Let me also be blunt with you," she said. "I think the Indo-US relationship is extremely important, but I know I am not the flavour of the day in India, and I think that it actually would have undermined our moving the relationship forward, if I were in that job. And, that's the reality of it."

...
...
But she asserted, "What the Indians would have gotten in me is someone who is realistic. I don't believe in the (Richard) Holbrooke (Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan) crap about you solve Kashmir [ Images ] and you make Pakistan sane. I believe it's necessary albeit terribly insufficient condition to get Pakistanis to tell the army to lay off (in its machinations against India) if you resolve the Indo-Pakistani issue."

"Whether that can ever happen is irrelevant," she said.

"The Indians would have gotten in me someone who is more realistic about Pakistan," Fair reiterated.

...
Fair argued that the massive aid to Pakistan would not "fix Pakistan's chronically neuralgic sense of insecurity vis-a-vis India."

"I don't think what India does or does not do in Afghanistan is going to make Pakistan stop supporting the Taliban," she predicted. "I think we need to think very hard about what is Pakistan's genuine source of insecurity and put some things on the table that might be out of the box."

[putnanja]

Obama 'shocker' leaves New Delhi confused, suspicious

[ramana]

Contrast that article with one written by KP Nayar in Telegraph of all the moves India is making to make the visit successful.

MKB says something to ponder. Af-Pak is a mess and the US adding PRC to improve the differences is an admission of loss.
I still think its the Af-Pak strategists who put that in. See how quickly the PRC in Beijing said its really had no role while it was the Ambassador who said it in Delhi.

All that points to it being a US move.

[Hari Seldon]

But she asserted, "What the Indians would have gotten in me is someone who is realistic. I don't believe in the (Richard) Holbrooke (Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan) crap about you solve Kashmir [ Images ] and you make Pakistan sane. I believe it's necessary albeit terribly insufficient condition to get Pakistanis to tell the army to lay off (in its machinations against India) if you resolve the Indo-Pakistani issue."

{Wow. she used the word 'cr@p' to describe Hon Sri Holebroke's Fak-Ap policy cornerstone now, didn't she? She's already got my respect, a wee bit of it anyway}

"Whether that can ever happen is irrelevant," she said.

"The Indians would have gotten in me someone who is more realistic about Pakistan," Fair reiterated.

Hmmm. Smt Fair knows the right buttons to push to get the ear and attn of the Indians, eh?

[svinayak]

But she asserted, "What the Indians would have gotten in me is someone who is realistic. I don't believe in the (Richard) Holbrooke (Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan) crap about you solve Kashmir [ Images ] and you make Pakistan sane.
Hmmm. Smt Fair knows the right buttons to push to get the ear and attn of the Indians, eh?

They are a new generation who have seen thru Paksitani people.
Earlier baby boomers who hated India supported pakistan no matter what. Those who hated Indira Gandhi supported Pakistan and increased mil funding to Pak after 1980s

[D Roy]

I still think its the Af-Pak strategists who put that in. See how quickly the PRC in Beijing said its really had no role while it was the Ambassador who said it in Delhi.

All that points to it being a US move.

But it did not stop the PLA types from going along with it. didn't it?

this was one chance where the PLA could have shown that they are willing to make a stab at asian solidarity ( howsoever strained) and they blew it. they bowed to Massa and its shortchanging of India. I am sorry to say but China's thinking is not all that long term as some people think.

It also shows that China continues to look for "recognition" that it can peddle to its brainwashed urban generation.

[milindc]

US: Expert who infuriated India offered key post

"I don't think what India does or does not do in Afghanistan is going to make Pakistan stop supporting the Taliban," she predicted. "I think we need to think very hard about what is Pakistan's genuine source of insecurity and put some things on the table that might be out of the box."

That's the problem with this b*tch who feeds ammo to Pakis and then back-peddles, but the damage is already done.
See how cleverly she says India needs to compromise on Paki's GENUINE source of insecurity.

[Nandu]

I don't get the hate against Fair at all. Pakis are known liars. It is pointless to hate someone based on what the Pakis said she said.

[pgbhat]

I don't get the hate against Fair at all. Pakis are known liars. It is pointless to hate someone based on what the Pakis said she said.

She did the downhill skiing.

[Jarita]

I don't get the hate against Fair at all. Pakis are known liars. It is pointless to hate someone based on what the Pakis said she said.

Dont be a bhola. Unkil knows exactly what is happening in Afpak and words are not uttered without intention

[disha]

I don't get the hate against Fair at all. Pakis are known liars. It is pointless to hate someone based on what the Pakis said she said.

She is Christine Unfair. How can she claim that the consulates are not issuing visas and dance around such words? All over the world 80% of the Indian Consulate cater to the Indians! POI, certificates, notarization, extensions, renewals etc. The net immigration into India from non-indians is miniscule!! Imagine if you are a BRO contractor planning your visit to Afghanistan for BRO. Where will you go for any help with your documents? US Consulate?

Christine is an ungrateful *bee*atch. She forgot that when 911 happened, it was India's alliance with NA that helped US out of a sticky wicket. Where was she when Indian Consulate was bombed at Kabul?

[KLNMurthy]

Contrast that article with one written by KP Nayar in Telegraph of all the moves India is making to make the visit successful.

MKB says something to ponder. Af-Pak is a mess and the US adding PRC to improve the differences is an admission of loss.
I still think its the Af-Pak strategists who put that in. See how quickly the PRC in Beijing said its really had no role while it was the Ambassador who said it in Delhi.

All that points to it being a US move.

It's normal for high-ups like prez or sec of state to push the envelope in these relationships, with the lower-downs left to manage the outrage and fallout, and make nice.

[KLNMurthy]

Obama 'shocker' leaves New Delhi confused, suspicious

Look at this another way: doesn't the taller than mountains friend hold the keys to Pakistan's tail-wagging? If anyone can tell Pakis to stop this nonsense otherwise it will get serious, isn't it China?

If we say that Chinese nukes are what give the courage to Pak to keep attacking us, then we are admitting that China is the one that has to make it better, yes?

[Amber G.]

I don't get the hate against Fair at all. Pakis are known liars. It is pointless to hate someone based on what the Pakis said she said.

Nanduji - From the news reports it looks like Christine Fair will decline the position in the Obama administration.
But it is interesting to see her quotes:

Yes, I think the Indians are up to stuff in Balochistan, as they should be. (But) It's not what the Pakistanis say they are up to."

The problems with the Pakistanis is that they lie too much and so, that when they tell the truth, no one believes them."

India should be doing this and they should be doing more of it, if I may be so blunt. So, I've never said, 'Shame on the Indians.'

"

Nothing that India could possibly do, without being observed as they tend to have not been observed, could ever rival what the Pakistanis have done

,

India is also building schools on a sensitive part of the border in Kunar, across from Bajaur ...

First I was really enthusiastic about the India portfolio because I am really burnt out on Pakistan. There's no question.
…'

Finally the reason she is declining is:

let me also be blunt with you," she said. "I think the Indo-US relationship is extremely important, but I know I am not the flavour of the day in India, [ certainly not in BRF ] and I think that it actually would have undermined our moving the relationship forward, if I were in that job. And, that's the reality of it

It is really sad to see that this thread now is just becoming a mouth piece of people channeling Glenn beck and birthers.., capitalizing Barak's middle name (Hussain), waiting for ney hoping for only hope, kid you not, (exact quotes)

[From India's point of view, what we can hope] is that US unemployment rate stays above 11% until November 2012 and Obama ....

.. ..Repeating several times (without retraction or clarification) that all NRI's who voted for a candidate not of their choice, have blood on their hand ... or went to a particular school are traitors...

Really Sad.

[negi]

NRIs and traitors ?

Btw more appropriate term in the context is PIO .

[Amber G.]

Folks the US India relation is bit more than just channeling Rush or Hannity Fox news. I think the tone from some posters here is becoming a bit hostile to anyone who disagrees with their views.

I was going to ignore this but let me just address some comments directly addressed to me.

Most of us don't care about US domestic politics, but Barack Obama's administration is no friend of India; ….. To be critical of individuals on this forum who dislike the Obama administration smacks of sugar coating the poison pill. I very much enjoy your math puzzles and perhaps its better you direct your energies there rather than the illogical approach of defending an anti-India US president. The NRIs who voted for him are now guilty of having the blood of Indian men, women and children on their hands.

Mortji I am glad that you enjoy math puzzles but don’t you think it’s a bit odd (not to mention, some may call it a bit rude) to advise me where to "better" direct my energy. And WOW! not only I am unfit to direct my energies, I have blood on my hand!!!

I really feel sorry for you when you said “having blood of Indian men, women and children” on my hand (I did vote for Obama ) .. Wow!!! What can I say but to confess that others have even blamed the recent Peshawar blast on us (More than one Paki news paper is blaming RAW/India/US etc for that) ... I for one, find that blaming me for the “blood” is really offensive and put that comment in the same brilliance as edits in Pak news papers .. IMO it is beyond pale but I see you still have still not retracted that statement.

Also:

Amber, Give it a break. Who gives a rat's ass about the India sweet talk from POTUS, US Congress and DoS? …... You need to quit posting US propaganda printed in Indian newspapers. ….

And what is this “propaganda”? Correcting commens such that:

Obama's Diwali celebration upsets Indian-American community
Serves right to all Indian Americans who were going gaga over Democrats and Hillary

With news story with the fact that it was the first time that a president in USA celebrated Diwali

Again calling/dismissing stories printed in Indian News paper as Propaganda is standard arguments given by Pakis ..Not worthy of you to use that argument.. In any case sorry if it is causing you major taqleef and you are not getting break.

Regards.

[SaiK]

Obama 'shocker' leaves New Delhi confused, suspicious

i'd like to know how many deshies will listen and act per him?

However, senior strategic analyst K Subrahamanayam doesn't think the current issue is so important. He feels that in the past, China had done far more serious things, which have not been in India's interests, and the US has looked the other way. India didn't raise any objections then, so why complain over a relatively small matter now, says Subrahamanayam.

"China has been intervening in India-Pakistan affairs since 1965. It intervened in 1971. It armed Pakistan with nuclear weapons and missiles in the 1980s and 1990s.The US looked away. China conducted a nuclear test for Pakistan on May 26, 1990. Eighty per cent of Pakistani weapons are procured from China. India has been keeping mum over all these developments all these years. Making a song and dance over the relatively mild reference at this stage appears to be a case of making a mountain out of a molehill," says Subrahamanayam.