no saar, this is main site..Shreeman wrote: It is a blog. ...
Main newspaper is different.
And it comes in spite of the fact that Modi is a right-wing Hindu extremist.
Yes, Gus. I too posted this on this page itself. This deserves criticism, and pointing out that this is Kerry SD poisoning the well for the Obama whitehouse. The blog entry on the fashion ought to be left out as minor distraction deserved by any celebrity. I was pointing out the distraction.Gus wrote:no saar, this is main site..Shreeman wrote: It is a blog. ...
Main newspaper is different.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/aba ... story.html
this is abc
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=28460622And it comes in spite of the fact that Modi is a right-wing Hindu extremist.
Gus wrote:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/aba ... story.html
this is abc
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=28460622And it comes in spite of the fact that Modi is a right-wing Hindu extremist.
"True Global Partners: Incentivizing Trade and Investment"
Under President Obama, trade between the two countries has increased by about 60 percent to nearly $100 billion a year -- a record high. But that's still hundreds of billions less than the trade we do with China. "We've got to do better," the President said, wpeaking at a U.S.-India Business Council Summit in New Delhi. So today, the PResident announced a series of additional steps that will generate more than $4 billion in trade and investment with India while supporting thousands of jobs in both countries:
The Export-Import Bank will commit up to $1 billion in financing to support "Made-in-America" exports to India.
OPIC will support lending to small and medium businesses across India that will result in more than $1 billion in loans in underserved rural and urban markets.
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency will aim to leverage nearly $2 billion in investmnets in renewable energy in India.
by Praveen Swami January 24, 2015
President Barack Obama’s decision to cancel his visit to Agra came after Uttar Pradesh authorities insisted that he would not be allowed to use his armour-plated car to drive through the Taj Mahal’s eastern gate, government sources have told The Indian Express. The Secret Service, which protects President Obama, said having him travel into the complex in a battery-powered golf-cart posed an unacceptable security risk.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed all visitors to the Taj Mahal to disembark at the Shilpgram complex, 500 metres away, and board an electric vehicle to the entry gate.
Uttar Pradesh’s government, the sources said, refused to grant special access permission for President Obama’s bomb-proof personal vehicle, as well as almost 50 other vehicles carrying close-protection personnel and electronic security equipment.
“Basically”, a senior Home Ministry official said, “they told us to get an order from the Supreme Court, which was of course impossible in the time we had left”. Uttar Pradesh officials have offered no official comment on the issue.
The Secret Service’s 100-odd staff who were in Agra for the visit left their hotels on Friday night, after receiving instructions to stand down.
President Obama, government sources said, will now leave for Saudi Arabia early on January 27, to condole with the family of the recently-deceased Saudi monarch. Vice-President Joseph Biden had earlier been scheduled to undertake this duty.
Who will underwrite such pipeline that passes through such fluid area ...... you need long term political stability for pipeline to build and work.RoyG wrote:ISIS was let loose in order to keep the Shias at bay and to secure territory to get a pipeline to the Mediterranean to supply Europe with natural gas and oil which would be transacted in dollars. Why do you think the Russians are so pissed? They will now throw everything they got behind the FSA and cripple ISIS just enough so that it doesn't pose a threat to the Saudi royals.
Here is an Opinion from WSJ:ramana wrote:Now that the visit is over can someone summarize what was achieved?
In real and virtual terms.
Thanks,
ramana
Just a few years ago, Pakistan would have dominated any conversation between an Indian prime minister and an American president. During President Obama’s visit to India this week for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, the two no doubt spent significantly more time discussing their shared geopolitical challenge in China. In managing relations with Beijing and deepening security ties across the Indo-Pacific, New Delhi and Washington can help each other help themselves.
Four months after Mr. Modi’s visit to Washington, Obama came to India as the first U.S. president to make two visits to the country while in office and the first American “chief guest” at India’s Republic Day celebrations. While the visit was long on symbolism and enthusiasm, as evidenced by yesterday’s parade, translating a strategic vision of partnership into concrete cooperation has proven difficult in recent years.
American and Indian leaders often speak about the natural affinities between the two nations, but the U.S.-India relationship has had a tendency to drift. There is therefore a premium on Messrs. Obama and Modi articulating a case for closer ties that is rooted not only in shared values but in common strategic interests.
Mitigating the potentially disruptive effects of a rising China should be first among those interests. The transformation of U.S.-India relations that began in 2001 was based in part on the common desire to balance China’s growing power. Neither nation sought specifically to contain Beijing but rather to hedge against future uncertainty by deepening ties, security ties in particular, among Indo-Pacific powers, including with each other.
While he was still a candidate, Mr. Modi, then the chief minister of Gujarat, declared that “no power on earth can snatch away Arunchal Pradesh,” the disputed territory on China’s border, and called on Beijing to abandon “its mindset of expansion.” But since his election, the prime minister has emphasized economic growth above all else, securing a $20 billion Chinese-investment pledge during his September summit with President Xi Jinping —even as Indian and Chinese troops faced off in a contested area of Ladakh.
The border standoff subsided, but flare-ups along the line of actual control are hardly the only Chinese moves that concern New Delhi. The Modi government remains wary of Beijing’s intentions, including its attempts to deepen ties with India’s neighbors Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Burma, and its efforts to project power into the Indian Ocean.
While Indian worries about a Chinese “string of pearls” stretching from the Middle East to China are premature, New Delhi is right to seek an Indo-Pacific region that is not dominated by any one Asian power. This requires ensuring that Asia’s democratic countries are also strong. Mr. Modi has smartly moved to enhance security ties with Australia, Japan and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Cooperation with Washington, Indian officials believe, is another signal to China that India is a serious player on the global stage. Here lie the opportunities for U.S.-Indian progress, in areas such as defense co-production, joint military exercises and training, harmonizing approaches to the South China Sea, strengthening trilateral cooperation between the U.S., India and Japan, and reviving the quadrilateral security dialogue between those three countries and Australia.
Yet strengthening ties with China’s neighbors also poses a dilemma for India. For all the recent emphasis on India’s emergence as a global power, approximately 600 million Indians still live on $2 per day, 300 million Indians are unconnected to the power grid, and per capita income remains less than $2,000. Mr. Modi’s focus on economic growth has driven a search for international relationships that will maximize India’s economic fortunes.
This implies establishing productive ties with as many countries as possible. Security expert Brahma Chellaney calls this India’s new “multi-aligned” approach, where Mr. Modi balances closer cooperation with major powers, including China, and avoids having to choose one power over another.
This may be incommensurate with the global leadership role Indian officials profess to seek. Neither New Delhi nor Washington will sign up to a polarized campaign that seeks to isolate China, but neither can they avoid taking a stand on contentious problems ranging from maritime claims to border disputes to cybersecurity. In the aftermath of President Obama’s visit to New Delhi, there will be a new opportunity to see just how long India can keep juggling all of its foreign policy concerns at the same time.
Mr. Fontaine is president of the Center for a New American Security in Washington.
US strategic plan for mid-east is to use up all the oil and then leave them dry!! This started after the invasion of Saudi Arabia by Saddam Hussein., thus started the Green Revolution and money into research for other technology and now we have viable electronic cars, etc.by Schinnas
Before we dismiss US' misadventures in middle east as egomaniacal mis-steps by Uncle Sam, we need to fully flush out the US strategic game plan for mid-east.
arun wrote:X Posted from the “Republic Day 2015 - News and Discussion” thread.
I am in complete agreement with the Congress Party on this one.
The Indian nation requires an explanation from our Prime Minister Modi on why this surprising omission of displaying the Agni Missile is a masterstroke and not kowtowing to the US:
Did government hold back on display of military might, wonders Congress leader Manish Tewari
For good order and to allay fears that this is a Congress Party manufactured story, Hindu article confirming that the Agni Missile was not displayed this Republic Day:
Agni missing as Obama witnesses Republic Day parade
well put. The one question I have is: why are the saudis cooperating in this exercise that will bleed them dry in the long term, just like it is bleeding the other oil producers? Is is because the Saudi elite is invested in the USA and elsewhere sufficiently to make up for the loss of oil revenue in KSA with profits in the US stock market/investments?Before we dismiss US' misadventures in middle east as egomaniacal mis-steps by Uncle Sam, we need to fully flush out the US strategic game plan for mid-east.
Seems a reasonable take.Mr. Modi has been known to hug other leaders whom he considers trusted partners: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and, more recently, Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia. There has been a lot of talk about personal chemistry over the last few days, but Mr. Modi is extremely careful about the signals he sends. So let me suggest the following way of understanding this development: as a “quadrilateral security hug.”
Eight years ago, India signed up for the “quadrilateral security dialogue,” an experiment that included Australia, Japan and the United States — but not China. Introduced by Mr. Abe and endorsed by Dick Cheney, the vice president of the United States at the time, the effort eventually drew in Singapore and culminated in joint military exercises in the Bay of Bengal on a scale never previously seen in the region, anchored by an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Nimitz.
It didn’t last long. Even before the four countries convened for their first joint meeting, China had sent formal diplomatic protests to Washington, New Delhi, Canberra and Tokyo, complaining of what some called a “mini-NATO.” Less than two years later, at a summit meeting with China, Australia announced that it was withdrawing from the quadrilateral dialogue. Mr. Abe left office after that. So did Mr. Cheney. Indian policy makers had been ambivalent to begin with. After that, the idea died on the vine.
But Mr. Modi appears interested in reviving some version of the project. When he met with Mr. Obama for one-on-one talks on Sunday, the first 45 minutes of their conversation were dominated by an animated discussion of China. The two countries then issued a joint statement on a “strategic vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean region,” something India had refused to do in the past, fearing it would be read as hostile to China.
This may be the biggest surprise to come out of this meeting, and it tells us several things about Mr. Modi’s intentions. One is that he has set aside, at least for the moment, his early vision of striking an economic grand bargain with China, the only country capable of injecting tens of billions of dollars for a much-needed modernization of India’s infrastructure. Returning to the bargaining table with Beijing after Sunday’s statement will be tricky. And he is willing to imagine an expansive security role that stretches “from Africa to East Asia,” as the statement put it, a notion that dates back to the days of the British Raj, said Ashok Malik, a columnist who advised Mr. Modi’s campaign last year.
“America is looking at developing India into a net security provider” in the Indo-Pacific area, he said. “I think Modi recognizes that if India doesn’t step up to that role, China will fill the vacuum.”
....
But let us not discount the possibility that the hug between the two leaders, for the seconds that it lasted, could be the distant opening bell of a great game.
The US basically conned the saudi royalty to operate against the interests of the citizens of KSA -- nothing new there surely.ED: Saudi Arabia should be understood as essentially a client state of the United States. And so that client status is not dependent on an individual ruler, that client status is still very much intact, and again for Saudi Arabia to be shooting itself in the foot with this global oil price question, continuing the output at these levels draining their own economy just for the purposes of being able to be used as a weapon by the United States against Russia. I think that this illustrates quite clearly the degree to which Saudi Arabia is still within the orbit of the United States and that’s not changing either.
And of course, they will pull some random guy to give a statement like this, in order to continue the stereotype:sanjaykumar wrote:Well mission accomplished Ramana.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/world ... arade.html
In India, Obama Elevates the Nation’s Self-Esteem
“I came because of Obama,” said Vinay Kumar, 32, who had woken at 4:30 a.m. to catch a bus from his home on the city’s outskirts. “We hope he and Modi together will help grow the economy. And help us to get H-1B visas to visit America.”
“I am not looking for a permanent visit,” he added, “just one year or two.”
BEIJING — When Chinese troops provoked a standoff with Indian forces on a disputed border high in the Himalayas just before President Xi Jinping of China arrived in India last year, a pall fell over what was supposed to be a landmark visit.
That episode, emblematic of China’s recent aggressiveness in the region, recurred in the minds of some Chinese analysts over the past few days as China observed the warmth between President Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India during Mr. Obama’s visit to New Delhi.
At the time of Mr. Xi’s trip in September, the Ministry of National Defense in Beijing sheepishly conceded that a Chinese incursion into Indian territory had probably occurred, and people here know that the troop movement, though small in the scheme of things, emboldened Mr. Modi to warn Mr. Xi about China’s expansionist tendencies.
“China’s primary task is to deal with India with sophistication,” Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said this week. “But it’s not China’s talent to deal with India in this way.”
The reaction in China to the breadth of strategic and economic issues discussed by the United States and India during Mr. Obama’s visit and to their obvious, though not publicly expressed, mutual anxiety about China has been cool but controlled.
China can see that India’s steadfast policy of navigating an independent position, aloof from power plays in East Asia, is crumbling under the forceful Mr. Modi. Beijing is also aware that India’s problems with the United States, based in large part on Washington’s relationship with India’s archenemy, Pakistan, have diminished, analysts said.
But for the moment, China appears to be banking on India’s long-held position that it will not sign up as a permanent ally of anyone, including the United States.
Moreover, China has seemed eager not to be too negative about the Obama visit so as not to damage the progress, even if limited, made during Mr. Xi’s three days in India. Beijing, now anxious to play down the suspicions between it and New Delhi, sees big opportunities in Indian infrastructure and technology projects as Mr. Modi tries to kick-start the economy.
“We know India does not want to be part of a containment policy against China,” said Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here. “We believe that the zero-sum game belongs to the last century.”
Still, China has paid close attention to the active foreign policy of Mr. Modi, who since assuming office has cultivated not only the United States but also Japan, China’s main rival in East Asia.
China has taken comfort in its economic relationship with India, to which it sells far more than India sells to China. But during a visit to New Delhi last year, the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, outstripped China on the economic front in advance.
Mr. Xi promised $20 billion in investments in India over the next five years, something of a letdown in New Delhi. Word before his visit had put the investment at $100 billion. In contrast, Mr. Abe had already pledged $32 billion to help improve India’s weak infrastructure.
Mr. Modi enjoys an especially close personal bond with Mr. Abe — the Indian leader is an admirer of Japanese culture — and it was at Mr. Modi’s suggestion that Japan was invited last year to join naval exercises with the United States and India. Beijing was displeased.
Mr. Modi did not stop there: During his talks with Mr. Obama, he suggested revitalizing a loose security network involving the United States, India, Japan and Australia, a grouping that China views with suspicion.
For his part, Mr. Obama persuaded Mr. Modi to sign a statement that implicitly criticized China for its provocative moves in the South China Sea. India had already expressed concerns about China’s behavior in that arm of the western Pacific and is cooperating with Vietnam, another critic of China, on an oil-drilling venture in the area’s waters.
“China feels unhappy but not surprised” about India’s siding with the United States on the South China Sea, said Wu Xinbo, the director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. “Will that have any impact on China’s maritime policies? No. What India can do is not substantive in the regional situation.”
China also expressed concerns this week about Mr. Obama’s offer to support India’s membership in the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, an organization devised to ensure that civilian nuclear trade was not diverted for military uses.
India’s possible membership in the organization was part of a deal worked out between Washington and New Delhi that broke a five-year logjam preventing American companies from building nuclear power plants in India.
India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and if it joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group, it would be the only member not to have signed the treaty, which is supposed to prevent states from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“We support the group carrying out discussions on admitting new members, and at the same time we encourage India to take the next steps to satisfy the relevant standards of the group,” Ms. Hua, the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said of India’s proposed membership in the suppliers group.
For China, the biggest long-term worry about the developing relationship between New Delhi and Washington may be the advanced military technology that the United States will probably sell to India in the future, said Mr. Wu of the Center for American Studies.
At the moment, Mr. Wu said, “we don’t view India as a major threat.” But that could change with more American military sales to India.
“That will touch China’s security nerve,” he said. “The more advanced Indian capability will increase the pressure on China.”
Not really sir, maybe true for the US and a few Euro nations. Even then, it is a big if.SBajwa wrote:If advances in tech are kept then in 10-20 years Saudi Arabia won't be able to sell their oil for water!
We already know the OT answer. It has to do with the "easy come easy go " nature of saudi culture; they don't have the civilizational outlook to invest in people's growth.Tuvaluan wrote:schinnas wrote:well put. The one question I have is: why are the saudis cooperating in this exercise that will bleed them dry in the long term, just like it is bleeding the other oil producers? Is is because the Saudi elite is invested in the USA and elsewhere sufficiently to make up for the loss of oil revenue in KSA with profits in the US stock market/investments?Before we dismiss US' misadventures in middle east as egomaniacal mis-steps by Uncle Sam, we need to fully flush out the US strategic game plan for mid-east.
...
But the story—and the “orientalist” coverage that it typifies—were mocked in India and abroad.Consider the monkeys, mainly rhesus macaques: Bold enough to climb in kitchen windows to check the contents of refrigerators, they are also viewed as a representation of the Hindu deity Hanuman, so they cannot be harmed without prompting a major outcry.”
The story elicited some sharp reactions from people on Twitter.Packs of strays lurk in public parks, guard alleyways and street corners and howl nightly in neighborhoods and villages. Joggers carry bamboo rods to beat them away, and bicyclists fill their pockets with stones to throw at chasers. Walking a pet dog here can be akin to swimming with sharks.”