India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 27 Feb 2013 22:15

Now Indians Will have to manage Dr Evil, MR Maggoo team on one side and Seventy (two) Sam plus Pussy Cat tag team trying to eat Cashmere Tweety Bird on the other side.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 27 Feb 2013 22:27

disha wrote: Why should "internet-hindus" support the GOI?

Well its for the greater good of indians isn't it? Don't you want the lives of indians to improve? If you don't then thats fine.

What did the current GOI do for the Indian-Americans?

H1-b visa negotiations, taking on the US govt to lower visa fees (via a WTO case), try and improve consular services.

What is going on with the pravasi-bharatiya divas? Why nobody turns up? What about the dual citizenship?

You have OCI. Which gives you the rights of NRI's.

Indian-americans can write to their representatives about what concerns them.,why are you advising them on what to do and not?

No shit sherlock... but you know some of us are quite passionate about India and its only Indian americans who can help change policies towards india. Or you can continue to whine about US's position on Pak while they kill our soldiers and people.

Why do not you advise the current GOI to work on the citizenship issue for the Indian-americans?

They have the OCI - which provides you with almost all the rights that you require (except buying agricultural land and visiting cantonment areas etc).

Why should they bother about India? Most of them are not citizens of India - Anyway?

Its upto them and this is a nationalist forum about India (there are many PIO's who post here), so hopefully some people will help

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 01 Mar 2013 04:15

@shyamd ^^^: "You have OCI. Which gives you the rights of NRI's."

Triggered a thought that we should get our terms clear. "OCI" = Overseas Citizen of India--not eligible to vote or contribute. "NRI" = non resident Indian (possibly a green card holder) --not eligible to vote or contribute. "PIO" = Person of Indian Origin (who is not an Indian citizen and may be a US citizen and who may or may not have ever been to India but has parents/grandparents who were Indians).

The bulk of today's PIOs (the ones who have the PIO card) are ABCDs whose ties to India are a bit thin simply because they have not been courted as for example, the Israelis court American Jews. There is no outreach from Indian Ambys since time immemorial.

Writing to your Congressman/Senator is pointless unless you donate (big $2,400 + fundraisers at your house) and are of course, an American citizen.

Putting the above into actionable context, relying on them is a low percentage shot. Better to enlist Boeing (C-17s, Apaches etc) and LM (C-130s etc) and of course, GE (F-404/414) who have carefully distributed work across 50 states, to lobby on your behalf.

In 2005, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas who was campaigning, said one of his strangest moments was speaking to a VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) gathering in some backwater and being peppered with questions about his stance on the India-US nuke 123 from people whom he thought would not have been able to point to India on the map.

At the time, LM thought it had a clear shot at MMRCA (F-16IN Block 70). Connect the dots.

The Indian Embassy in DC and MEA are still into cocktail parties, speaking French and generally dissing ABCDs and PIOs except for the Nooyis of the world and shunning the Boeings et al.

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 01 Mar 2013 04:15

Self deleted repeat post

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 01 Mar 2013 09:36

One small clarification - ABCDs too can get an OCI status.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 01 Mar 2013 15:06

Hagel Committed to Strategic Partnership with India: Pentagon - BusinessLine

In a damage control exercise after Chuck Hagel’s comments on India’s role in Afghanistan kicked up a storm, the Pentagon today said the new Defence Secretary is “strongly committed” to a strategic partnership with India and to fostering an “even closer” defence ties. {That's all fine. But, what is his current understanding about India's presence in Afghanistan ? What is his idea of Pakistan ?}

“Secretary Hagel is strongly committed to the US strategic partnership with India and to fostering an even closer defence relationship with India that builds upon the work of Secretary [Leon] Panetta, Deputy Secretary [Ashton] Carter, and their Indian counterparts,” Pentagon spokesperson George Little told Washington Free Beacon.

“Secretary Hagel looks forward to working closely with Indian national security and defence officials,” Little was quoted as saying.

Free Beacon, the right-wing online newspaper, had this week uploaded an unreleased speech given by Hagel in 2011 where he is seen being critical of India’s role in Afghanistan.

In sharp contrast to US view on India’s role in Afghanistan, Hagel has alleged that India has over the years “financed problems” for Pakistan in the war-torn country.

Hagel made these remarks at Oklahoma’s Cameron University in 2011.

It sparked off a strong reaction from India which said such comments are ‘contrary to the reality’ of its unbounded dedication to the welfare of Afghans.

Hagel, during the speech said, “India for some time has always used Afghanistan as a second front, and India has over the years financed problems for Pakistan on that side of the border”.

“And you can carry that into many dimensions, the point being [that] the tense, fragmented relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been there for many, many years,” Hagel said.

Reacting to this, the Indian Embassy here had said, “Such comments attributed to Senator Hagel, who has been a long-standing friend of India and a prominent votary of close India-US relations are contrary to the reality of India’s unbounded dedication to the welfare of Afghan people”.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 01 Mar 2013 15:28

What is an 'ABCD'?

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 01 Mar 2013 15:49

Yankee hospital delivered PIO living in the US with no ties to India but considered as Indian by American society.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 01 Mar 2013 16:14

Aditya_V ji,

thanks, but what does the acronym 'ABCD' stand for`?

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 01 Mar 2013 16:22

ABCD - Aadalam Boys Chinnatha Dance , by Prabhudeva

Atri · Post by **Atri** » 01 Mar 2013 17:54

RajeshA wrote:Aditya_V ji,

thanks, but what does the acronym 'ABCD' stand for`?

America Born Confused Deshi..

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 01 Mar 2013 19:25

matrimc wrote:One small clarification - ABCDs too can get an OCI status.

Possibly but the operative words are: "...Citizen of India". India does not recognize dual citizenship. So, it's either American or Indian citizenship from GoI POV.

Very often, people get PIO and OCI mixed up.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 01 Mar 2013 19:59

Atri wrote:
RajeshA wrote:Aditya_V ji,

thanks, but what does the acronym 'ABCD' stand for`?
America Born Confused Deshi..

Atri garu,

thanks!

perhaps one should simply have 'Foreign Born Confused Desi'! Confused Desis can be found elsewhere as well!

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 01 Mar 2013 21:29

SSridhar wrote:Hagel Committed to Strategic Partnership with India: Pentagon - BusinessLine
In a damage control exercise after Chuck Hagel’s comments on India’s role in Afghanistan kicked up a storm, the Pentagon today said the new Defence Secretary is “strongly committed” to a strategic partnership with India and to fostering an “even closer” defence ties. {That's all fine. But, what is his current understanding about India's presence in Afghanistan ? What is his idea of Pakistan ?}

Reacting to this, the Indian Embassy here had said, “Such comments attributed to Senator Hagel, who has been a long-standing friend of India and a prominent votary of close India-US relations are contrary to the reality of India’s unbounded dedication to the welfare of Afghan people”.

This game is good.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 01 Mar 2013 21:43

I hope this episode convinces some on BRF who still look to the Americans as our saviors in Afghanistan. The Taliban backed by the PA are clearly going to be the strongest players in Afghanistan and the US has no choice but to slowly make concessions as they begin withdrawing the bulk of their forces. Our NSA is busy running around like a headless chicken and the entire GoI is committed to restraint in the face of Pakistan's Islamic proxy war. UPA is the biggest threat to India.

KrishnaK · Post by **KrishnaK** » 01 Mar 2013 22:03

The state dept has a better opinion of our work in Afghanistan, strange world we live in

Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake yesterday at a Congressional hearing said,” India has taken a very kind of holistic view of what needs to be done there, and they have a $2 billion assistance program.”

from India has holistic view of Afghanistan development: Blake

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 02 Mar 2013 03:04

Its all for managing India.

THis guy's bosses think otherwise and outrank him.
However our Ambassador and NSA will lap it up as great favor.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 03 Mar 2013 02:51

The Unpivot to Asia?
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/ ... t-to-asia/

The Washington Post headline blares: “China is happy with John Kerry because it thinks he’ll drop the ‘pivot to Asia’”. The Post article itself gets its ammunition from this Liz Economy post over at CFR which rounds up some of the reactions to the new security team from around China. The mood is upbeat.
China Institute of International Studies’ Ruan Zongze: “Compared with Clinton’s tough diplomatic approach, Kerry as a moderate democrat is expected to stress the role of bilateral or multilateral dialogues”;Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Ni Feng: Kerry’s “diplomatic measures” will “greatly embody Obama’s concepts.”
In reviewing Secretary Kerry’s congressional voting record, Chinese observers also noted that he “generally voted in favor of bills conducive to promoting the development China-U.S. relations and generally voted against or expressed different opinions for bills not conducive to China-U.S. relations.” Overall, as People’s Daily observed, “Kerry stresses more on coordination rather than confrontation in foreign relations.”What are the Chinese so happy about? One possible clue: during his confirmation hearings, John Kerry seemed to indicate that a further military buildup in Asia is not in the immediate future.I’m not convinced that increased military ramp-up is critical yet. I’m not convinced of that. That’s something I’d want to look at very carefully when and if you folks confirm me and I can get in there and sort of dig into this a little deeper. But we have a lot more bases out there than any other nation in the world, including China today. We have a lot more forces out there than any other nation in the world, including China today. And we’ve just augmented the president’s announcement in Australia with additional Marines. You know, the Chinese take a look at that and say, what’s the United States doing? They trying to circle us? What’s going on? And so, you know, every action has its reaction. It’s the old — you know, it’s not just the law of physics; it’s the law of politics and diplomacy. I think we have to be thoughtful about, you know, sort of how we go forward.

Though the Chinese may be misunderstanding Secretary Kerry somewhat—he seems to have been been offering his assessment that our current force posture in the Pacific is adequate for the task at hand—there is an unmistakeable change of tone in his remarks.That would be smart on China’s part: whining ineffectively about how much you hate something you can’t do anything about is an excellent way to look like a weakling and a fool (sort of like complaining about how much you hate Butcher Assad without doing anything about it).If that’s what’s happening, look for things to quiet down in Asia.
Another, less hopeful possibility is that while US policy hasn’t changed in Asia, China thinks that it has. It has mistaken Secretary Kerry’s softer tone for a softer policy and is being nice because it thinks it has won the showdown.. Chinese resolve and America’s Middle East and budget troubles have convinced the Americans that they can’t sustain the pivot, China thinks. In that case, we should expect some problems down the road as Chinese assertiveness runs into American resistanceThe third and worst possibility is that the Chinese are right and the Obama administration is ratting out on its own pivot and getting ready to betray our Asian allies who trusted the promises the administration made in its first term. In that case we can expect a crescendo of instability and crises that could escalate to include military conflicts and could well see South Korea, Japan and Taiwan going nuclear as China bids toestablish a sphere of influence in the region[acking away from Asia might seem like the easiest solution, but we hope and believe that the White House is smart enough to understand that this would be a mistake of historic proportions, one that historians would be shaking their heads over 100 years from now. Backing off from Asia might temporarily soothe US-Chinese relations, but at the cost of increasing the propensity among some Chinese to think the US is in such rapid decline that it can be bullied and pushed aside.The White House, like most Americans, wants a calm international environment so that the US can concentrate on its problems at home. As we’ve said before, there’s nothing wrong with that, but unfortunately a calm overseas still depends on foreign perceptions that the US is willing to do what it takes to maintain its geopolitical position. If that confidence is lost, the international scene will become very tumultuous very quickly as other powers begin to plot the Wars of the American Succession. The cheapest and least risky foreign policy in the long run involves doing what it takes in both the Middle East AND Asia.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 06 Mar 2013 23:59

An article in the New York Times, March 4, 2013, on tax-exempt bonds in the US supposedly to be used to pay for public infrastructure, but increasingly used by corporations to build all kinds of private stuff, ranging from retail stores, restaurants, private golf courses, tennis clubs, even a topless bar and an adult bookstore, has the following about Pakistan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/busin ... utiny.html

Another was the Fatima Group of Pakistan. In December, a Fatima subsidiary raised $1.3 billion, tax-exempt, to build a fertilizer plant in Mount Vernon, Ind.

But weeks later, Indiana received alarming news: Pentagon officials said that fertilizer from Fatima’s operations in Pakistan had been turning up in Afghanistan, in homemade bombs used against American troops. Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana has delayed the project while the Defense Department investigates. The $1.3 billion is now sitting in escrow and will have to go back to the bond buyers if the project is rejected.

http://www.fwbusiness.com/business/late ... 0f31a.html

Indiana officials are withholding state backing for a Posey County fertilizer plant over concerns about whether its Pakistan-based owners are doing enough at its overseas operations to keep the potentially explosive material from being used against U.S. troops.

The Indiana Finance Authority issued $1.3 billion in bonds in December for a nitrogen fertilizer plant that Midwest Fertilizer Corp. wants to build at the Port of Mount Vernon in southwest Indiana. Midwest Fertilizer is owned by the Fatima Group, a company based in Lahore, Pakistan, that already manufactures fertilizer in the south Asian country.

The state agency learned Jan. 14 about concerns that Fatima Group might not be cooperating with U.S. officials worried that fertilizer made in Pakistan ends up in improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan that have killed American troops, Indiana Economic Development Corp. spokeswoman Katelyn Hancock told the Evansville Courier & Press.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence ordered the project halted shortly after his inauguration Jan. 14, and his office said at the time that the state had begun begun "actively investigating the situation in consultation with federal authorities" and the U.S. Department of Defense.

"Economic development is important, but the safety and security of our troops in harm's way is more important," Pence said in a statement. "We're in the process of making a careful evaluation of the appropriateness of Indiana's involvement in this project with those priorities in mind."

Kara Brooks, a governor's office spokeswoman, further emphasized the Defense Department's central role in whether the plant ever gets built.

"We're just working with federal officials to determine Fatima Group status with the DOD," she told The Associated Press on Friday.

To convert fertilizer into material that can be used in bombs, insurgents either grind or boil it to separate the calcium from the nitrate, which is then mixed with fuel oil.

arun · Post by **arun** » 08 Mar 2013 07:10

Gallup Poll on the attitudes of US Citizens to different countries in the world.

Per the Gallup Poll US Citizens seem to have broadly favourable views of India:

Americans Least Favorable Toward Iran : Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan get highest marks

Excerpt:

The analysis reveals there are three major relationships at play:

1.Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Israel, and Japan: Americans who tend to be negative or positive about any of these countries tend to be negative or positive about the others in the group. All of these countries are democracies that are considered U.S. allies, regardless of their geographic differences and levels of development. .....................

Full survey details available at the below weblink :

View methodology, full question results, and trend data

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 08 Mar 2013 12:45

This is a painful exercise .In most past polls of US citizens,they couldn't even spot the US on the world map.Ignorance of world affairs is legendary.They trust their president immensely,especially to find some poor sod ,anti-US in ideology to exterminate with extreme prejudice.Years ago,the US military had to allegedly come out with "comic book" manuals for pilots as normal manuals were too tough to read and understand.

Now that the comedy team of Kerry and Hagel are in charge of global affairs,the pretence of sucking up to India will begin in earnest.Our cretinous MEA mandarins,led by Salman-the Kursed,planning banquets for visiting Paki PMs while the ISI blasts Hyderabad,are with their own collaboration withthe enemy,giving the name Quisling the smell of roses in comparison with Kurshid.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 12 Mar 2013 03:57

Not really related to US-Ind, but some people may remember that InTrade site was quoted in this thread during the US Presidential elections. InTrade got most of the predictions correct uptill the FL results. The site is now shutdown as it is alledged that it was running the pyramid scam like that of MF Global.

What’s Behind the Mysterious Intrade Shutdown

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 25 Mar 2013 09:30

Ford and WPP apologise for Indian bondage ad

http://blogs.ft.com/tech-blog/2013/03/f ... ondage-ad/?

Ford and WPP have apologised for tasteless ads showing scantily-clad women bound and gagged in the back of a car.While the images were never published as part of an official campaign, someone at JWT India, Ford’s agency in the country, uploaded them to the sharing site Ads of the World.From there, they were picked up by sites like Business Insider and quickly drew an outraged response across the web.Ranjana Kumari, one of India’s leading women’s rights campaigners, told the Telegraph that the timing of the advertisement could not have been more insensitive, coming so soon after a high-profile gang rape in December.“They’re comparing women with baggage,” she said. “You don’t do this when a whole nation is angry about rapes.”In one of the images, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi smiles from the front seat of the car while three women in bondage struggle in the back, one of them shedding a tear. The tagline for the image is “Leave your worries behind with Figo’s extra-large boot.”WPP said: “We deeply regret the publishing of posters that were distasteful and contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within WPP Group. These were never intended for paid publication and should never have been created, let alone uploaded to the internet. This was the result of individuals acting without proper oversight and appropriate actions have been taken within the agency where they work to deal with the situation.”

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 25 Mar 2013 09:33

The Ad

Silvio Berlusconi With A Trunk Full Of Tied-Up Women: Worst Ford Ad Ever?

http://www.businessinsider.com/awful-fo ... z2OWQmvqNv

JWT India created a series of disturbing ads for the FordFigo, one of which shows former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi flashing a peace sign from the front seat of a car that has three curvaceous women tied up and gagged in the trunk. Ford and JWT have both issued an apology.
Ford did not approve the ads; the agency was just publishing some speculative renderings to show off its creative chops. JWT India is Ford's agency for the Figo in that country.
India is known for its politically incorrect advertising — Hitler shows up in ads there on a regular basis. It is possible that JWT India was trying to make a joke about Western culture rather than the role of women in society — although either way it's tasteless. (If you click to expand the image, it's evident that the woman in the sexy schoolgirl outfit is crying.)The tag line reads: "Leave your worries behind with Figo's extra-large boot," clearly referencing Berlusconi's many affairs and bunga bunga parties.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Mar 2013 04:32

Wheels are turning!!!

Nancy Powell meets rajnath Singh pitches for FDI in retail and offers to give presentation on US pullout from Afghanistan

Isn't that for the ruling government?

Rajnath Singh says no to FDI as it would affect the small town traders.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 27 Mar 2013 05:53

Atri wrote:
RajeshA wrote:Aditya_V ji,

thanks, but what does the acronym 'ABCD' stand for`?
America Born Confused Deshi..

ABCD...EFGH...
American Born Confused Desi, Emigrated From Gujarat, House In Jersey" is also occasionally seen; playing on the alphabet theme, it has been expanded for K-Z variously as "Kids Learning Medicine, Now Owning Property, Quite Reasonable Salary, Two Uncles Visiting, White Xenophobia, Yet Zestful

From Wiki

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 27 Mar 2013 06:50

ramana wrote:Wheels are turning!!!

Nancy Powell meets rajnath Singh pitches for FDI in retail and offers to give presentation on US pullout from Afghanistan

Isn't that for the ruling government?

Rajnath Singh says no to FDI as it would affect the small town traders.

They are just reaching out to the principal opposition in case it comes to power. They always do this before election time. Doesn't signify much.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 27 Mar 2013 13:55

Amber G. wrote:
RajeshA wrote:Aditya_V ji,

thanks, but what does the acronym 'ABCD' stand for`?
Atri wrote:America Born Confused Deshi..
ABCD...EFGH...
American Born Confused Desi, Emigrated From Gujarat, House In Jersey" is also occasionally seen; playing on the alphabet theme, it has been expanded for K-Z variously as "Kids Learning Medicine, Now Owning Property, Quite Reasonable Salary, Two Uncles Visiting, White Xenophobia, Yet Zestful

From Wiki

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 28 Mar 2013 01:09

http://www.mfi-miami.com/2013/03/white- ... customers/

It appears two white bank executives who run Lotus Bank, a bank in suburban Detroit have come under fire and have gotten the bank sued for violating the civil rights of Jasit Takhar and Anil Gupta, two of the bank’s Asian Indian customers.

You’re probably thinking, “Why is Steve Dibert wasting his time writing about a couple stupid white guys making racist comments? It’s Detroit, it happens all the time.”

True, it does happen and 99% of the time it gets ignored by the victim and everyone moves on with their life. Except this time, you need to put this one in the, “Are you a friggin’ moron?” category of white guy banking.

Lotus Bank didn’t realize they were hiring a couple moronic Archie Bunker wannabes.

You see Lotus Bank is not a typical bank. It was designed to accommodate the special needs Detroit’s growing Indian population. Essentially Lotus Bank was created by Indian-Americans for Indian-Americans and Indian immigrants with 14 of the 17 board members being ethic Indians. The Board of Directors of Lotus Bank being good corporate citizens opened their doors to everyone outside the Indian community. So they went and hired people outside the Indian community.

The only problem is Lotus Bank hired three bigoted white guys named Neal Searle, Richard Bauer and John Westerheide to run the bank for them.

akashganga · Post by **akashganga** » 30 Mar 2013 02:45

arun wrote:Gallup Poll on the attitudes of US Citizens to different countries in the world.

Per the Gallup Poll US Citizens seem to have broadly favourable views of India:

Americans Least Favorable Toward Iran : Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan get highest marks

Excerpt:

The analysis reveals there are three major relationships at play:

1.Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Israel, and Japan: Americans who tend to be negative or positive about any of these countries tend to be negative or posiabout the others in the group. All of these countries are democracies that are considered U.S. allies, regardless of their geographic differences and levels of development. .....................
Full survey details available at the below weblink :

View methodology, full question results, and trend data

India has high rating among US population despite presence of significant christian fundamentalist right in the US who are very vocal in their opposition to any eastern spirituality and despite not so good relations with both republican and democratic administrations. The main factors behind this are huge presence of new age movement for the last 50 years in the US influenced by hindu, and buddhist spirituality, yoga, indian classical music, classical dance, indian food, pandit ravi shanker, and now visible presence of IT professionals. You go to any small town in the US and you will find at least one yoga studio and big cities like NY, or SFO every street will have at least one yoga studio. Some people also attribute bollywood but I doubt that.

An interesting thing to note is that there is no latin american country in the top six. Mexico is behind India. US has a huge and significant latin american population. Sometime in future may be after 50 or 100 years US will have majority latin american population and primary language may become spanish. Who knows by then US will be another banana republic.

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 30 Mar 2013 22:22

GANDHINAGAR: After UK, it's the US which seems to be going soft on Narendra Modi. A delegation of American lawmakers and businessmen met the Gujarat chief minister on Thursday and showered praises on his government for facilitating investment in the state. The visit comes barely days after Britain's junior foreign minister Hugo Swire became the first minister from UK or any European country to meet Modi after the 2002 riots and expressed keenness to do business with Gujarat.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... omic-forum

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 05 Apr 2013 02:36

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/in ... ds-newsxml

John Kerry to visit India in June to push Indo-US nuke deal

US President Barack Obama is sending secretary of state John Kerry to India to expand the strategic cooperation between the two nations.
Kerry's visit, expected to take place in mid-June, is aimed at pushing the strategic defence sales to New Delhi and bring closure to the Indo-US nuclear deal.The top US diplomat will also co-chair the Indo-US strategic dialogue with external affairs minister Salman Khurshid. Diplomatic sources said Washington is keen to maintain momentum in the bilateral relationship and expand its defence sales to New Delhi which is currently estimated at $ 9 billion. Kerry will also push the nuclear deal as the US wants to bring it to an early closure.The US, sources said, is keen to finalise the early works agreement on nuclear reactors and settle the liability issue so as to clear the decks for actual nuclear commerce to begin.
The bilateral trade is currently estimated at $ 60 billion, and once the deal is implemented it will boost the economic relationship between the two countries. Energy will be a key component of the discussions.
The US is open to the supplies of the liquefied natural gas to India, though it will have to get its domestic laws tweaked to make an exception for India, which is a non-FTA country. While the former secretary of state Hillary Clinton created the right foundations for the strategic dialogue, South Block will be anxiously looking forward to Kerry's visit, given his reputation of being soft on Pakistan. He may actually advocate resumption of dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad, with or without India's terror concerns being addressed, sources said. Ahead of Kerry's visit several Indians ministers will be headed to the US.
The visits include that of finance minister P. Chidambaram (for the annual governing board meeting of the IMF and World Bank and for investor roundtables in New York and Boston), home minister Sushilkumar Shinde (for the homeland security dialogue), commerce minister Anand Sharma and HRD minister M.M. Pallam Raju. Discussions on Afghanistan will be another key component of the bilateral engagement, with the US keen to let India expand its defence engagement in the war-torn country and play a role in stabilising it in the post-2014 scenario.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Apr 2013 03:11

I guess sellout presented as fait accompli?

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 05 Apr 2013 03:42

India is interested in LNG. It will be cheaper to buy and transport from far away US than from neary by IRAN or Qatar.

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 05 Apr 2013 03:57

Acharya wrote:http://www.mfi-miami.com/2013/03/white- ... customers/

You see Lotus Bank is not a typical bank.

Steve Dibert is right. Not a typical bank --just a stupid one.

Krishna Malempati, chairman of the bank’s board of directors, told the Detroit Free Press that the men have been disciplined and they still work for the bank,

“When the board learned of it, they were reprimanded, and they felt bad about it. They’re working very hard, and they’ve been coached and trained to work with the community.”

These Dharmic types still believe in the leopard changing its spots. Think of what would have happened if they had said '**&(* jews or &(*))( wimmenz' in any normal company.

'Forgiveness' is a free pass to do more of the same. Very provocative. Put them on the street where they belong in cardboard boxes in Motown.

This Malempati character is el stupido. Only fear buys respect.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 05 Apr 2013 06:41

I think it is more of a democles' sword hanging on their head. they would be extra careful dealing with non-WASPs.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 05 Apr 2013 09:50

The turds are back to their game

09:55 US waiver for sale of defence equipment to Pak: In an indication of the "positive trajectory" of the bilateral ties, the US has issued a waiver, second in six months, for sale of major defence equipment to Pakistan citing national security interest.

The waiver issued quietly by the then Deputy Secretary of States Thomas Nides on February 15 and posted on the State Department website a week later on February 22 would pave the way for some major defence equipment sales to Pakistan.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 05 Apr 2013 10:01

Sickening to say the least. What to do? 2012 election was a hobson's choice election. Repubs were simply unelectable and would have been no better.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 05 Apr 2013 10:35

I have been told that during the Benghazi fiasco,where US diplomats were butchered,the reason for this is that for a full "7 hours",the Almighty ruler of the US of A,pres. Obama was "missing"! That is why the order to rescue the trapped diplomats by force did not take place. Does Obama also have a "Clintonian" disease what?

arun · Post by **arun** » 05 Apr 2013 15:57

Sanku wrote:The turds are back to their game

09:55 US waiver for sale of defence equipment to Pak: In an indication of the "positive trajectory" of the bilateral ties, the US has issued a waiver, second in six months, for sale of major defence equipment to Pakistan citing national security interest.

The waiver issued quietly by the then Deputy Secretary of States Thomas Nides on February 15 and posted on the State Department website a week later on February 22 would pave the way for some major defence equipment sales to Pakistan.

Now that the US is withdrawing from the immediate area where the Islamic Republic of Pakistan can use US supplied arms against the US, it seems the US is reverting to their traditional policy of supplying weapons to the Islamic Republic fully knowing that these weapons will be used to target India.

Meanwhile a web link for the story:

U.S. issues fresh waiver to Pakistan for arms sale