Bharat Rakshak

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 wrote:Aditya_V ji,

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

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

Atri wrote:

RajeshA wrote:Aditya_V ji,

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

America Born Confused Deshi..

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”.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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. .....................

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.

Atri wrote:

RajeshA wrote:Aditya_V ji,

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

America Born Confused Deshi..

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.

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

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

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.

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

You see Lotus Bank is not a typical bank.

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.

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.