Monday, April 12, 2010
Obama walks tightrope with Manmohan, Gilani
From The Hindu
Appreciates India's interest in Afghanistan; tells Pakistan that extremists do not distinguish between victims
India and the United States made a fresh push on Sunday to dispel the clouds of uncertainty hovering over their relationship in the wake of America's increasing dependence on Pakistan as a partner in its war against extremism in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama, accompanied by their top advisers, met here for 50 minutes on the eve of the Nuclear Security Summit. A few hours later, the U.S. President sat down with Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan.
The U.S. President reassured Dr. Singh that he “welcomed the humanitarian and development assistance that India continues to provide to Afghanistan,” the White House said in a statement. Providing an Indian account of the discussions, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said President Obama told the Prime Minister the U.S. “fully appreciated India's interest in Afghanistan and recognised the enormous sacrifices that India has made in helping to stabilise that country.”
Mr. Obama also sought to put to rest speculation on America's reluctance to allow Indian investigators access to David Coleman Headley, the Lashkar-e-Taiba operative arraigned in Chicago for his role in the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Ms. Rao described the U.S. President as being “fully supportive of our request for provision of such access.”
In his meeting with Prime Minister Gilani, Mr. Obama said that “extremists do not distinguish between us and we are truly facing a common enemy,” a White House readout of the exchange said. Mr. Obama also sought to dispel Islamabad's fears that the U.S. had sinister designs towards the country's nuclear programme, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters later.
Playing his role as an economist to the hilt, Prime Minister Singh told Mr. Obama about the role the U.S. and G-20 could play in speeding up the recovery of the global economy. India was also playing a role in the “architecture of high economic growth,” he said, but warned that the terrorist onslaught in the region “could affect our growth prospects.” This terrorist menace should be tackled and this was an issue on which India and the U.S. stood on the same side, Ms. Rao quoted the Prime Minister as saying. “He said this with specific reference to what is happening in Pakistan and Afghanistan. How this menace was tackled would determine the future of the South Asian region, the Prime Minister said. He mentioned in this context the issue of David Coleman Headley and also the tremendous rise in infiltration across the Line of Control.” Dr. Singh also brought up the activities of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Ilyas Kashmiri, “as also the fact that unfortunately there was no will on the part of the government of Pakistan to punish those responsible for the terrorist crimes in Mumbai of November 2008,” Ms. Rao said.
Directly spelling out New Delhi's expectations, the Prime Minister said that this was an area “where the partnership of India and the United States could make the difference.”
According to Ms. Rao, President Obama said he shared Dr. Singh's vision of South Asia and that he favoured the reduction of tensions between the two countries. At this point, the Prime Minister stressed the need for Pakistan to take convincing action against those accused of involvement in the Mumbai attacks, the Foreign Secretary said. She added that Mr. Obama fully understood Indian concerns about the LeT and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The U.S. was engaging Islamabad on these issues and would be sensitive to the concerns India has expressed in the context of American security assistance to Pakistan. Asked to elaborate what that meant, Mr. Rao said the issue would be monitored “keeping India's concerns in mind.”
Appreciates India's interest in Afghanistan; tells Pakistan that extremists do not distinguish between victims
India and the United States made a fresh push on Sunday to dispel the clouds of uncertainty hovering over their relationship in the wake of America's increasing dependence on Pakistan as a partner in its war against extremism in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama, accompanied by their top advisers, met here for 50 minutes on the eve of the Nuclear Security Summit. A few hours later, the U.S. President sat down with Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan.
The U.S. President reassured Dr. Singh that he “welcomed the humanitarian and development assistance that India continues to provide to Afghanistan,” the White House said in a statement. Providing an Indian account of the discussions, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said President Obama told the Prime Minister the U.S. “fully appreciated India's interest in Afghanistan and recognised the enormous sacrifices that India has made in helping to stabilise that country.”
Mr. Obama also sought to put to rest speculation on America's reluctance to allow Indian investigators access to David Coleman Headley, the Lashkar-e-Taiba operative arraigned in Chicago for his role in the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Ms. Rao described the U.S. President as being “fully supportive of our request for provision of such access.”
In his meeting with Prime Minister Gilani, Mr. Obama said that “extremists do not distinguish between us and we are truly facing a common enemy,” a White House readout of the exchange said. Mr. Obama also sought to dispel Islamabad's fears that the U.S. had sinister designs towards the country's nuclear programme, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters later.
Playing his role as an economist to the hilt, Prime Minister Singh told Mr. Obama about the role the U.S. and G-20 could play in speeding up the recovery of the global economy. India was also playing a role in the “architecture of high economic growth,” he said, but warned that the terrorist onslaught in the region “could affect our growth prospects.” This terrorist menace should be tackled and this was an issue on which India and the U.S. stood on the same side, Ms. Rao quoted the Prime Minister as saying. “He said this with specific reference to what is happening in Pakistan and Afghanistan. How this menace was tackled would determine the future of the South Asian region, the Prime Minister said. He mentioned in this context the issue of David Coleman Headley and also the tremendous rise in infiltration across the Line of Control.” Dr. Singh also brought up the activities of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Ilyas Kashmiri, “as also the fact that unfortunately there was no will on the part of the government of Pakistan to punish those responsible for the terrorist crimes in Mumbai of November 2008,” Ms. Rao said.
Directly spelling out New Delhi's expectations, the Prime Minister said that this was an area “where the partnership of India and the United States could make the difference.”
According to Ms. Rao, President Obama said he shared Dr. Singh's vision of South Asia and that he favoured the reduction of tensions between the two countries. At this point, the Prime Minister stressed the need for Pakistan to take convincing action against those accused of involvement in the Mumbai attacks, the Foreign Secretary said. She added that Mr. Obama fully understood Indian concerns about the LeT and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The U.S. was engaging Islamabad on these issues and would be sensitive to the concerns India has expressed in the context of American security assistance to Pakistan. Asked to elaborate what that meant, Mr. Rao said the issue would be monitored “keeping India's concerns in mind.”
Labels: Barack Obama, David Headley, Manmohan Singh, Nuclear Security Summit, Yusuf Raza Gilani
Manmohan-Obama bilateral focused on nuclear security, Afghanistan
Nuclear security and non-proliferation, Afghanistan, food security, and poverty reduction featured prominently in the bilateral discussions between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama on Sunday, Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, told media during a teleconference.
Mr. Obama had, in particular, thanked Dr. Singh for the humanitarian and development work that India has been undertaking in Afghanistan, Mr. Rhodes added. At the meeting both leaders emphasised the strategic importance of the India-United States relationship to the entire world, he said.
The Singh-Obama meeting was the first in series of bilateral talks that President Obama is holding prior to the kickoff of the Nuclear Security Summit of April 12-13.
During the media interaction Mr. Rhodes however declined to comment on whether or not Mr. Obama had assured Dr. Singh that India would have access to Mumbai attacks suspect David Coleman Headley, currently in custody in the U.S. The case is the responsibility of the U.S. Justice Department and the Attorney General, he said.
No binding communiqué likely
Regarding the question of whether a binding communiqué would emerge as a result of the summit discussions Mr. Rhodes said that the main outcome of the meetings in Washington would be to move towards the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear materials world over within the next four years.
“Specific national actions… and concrete steps towards such an effort will be required,” Mr. Rhodes said in this regard, and countries such as Chile have already demonstrated the role of national commitments to global nuclear security by transferring their stocks of enriched uranium to the U.S..
Laura Holgate, Senior Director, WMD Terrorism and Threat Reduction, further added that no legally binding communiqué would emerge from this summit; however there will be a political agreement. This would be consistent with the overall aim of the summit, which was to raise awareness of the threat of nuclear terrorism and the actions needed to tackle that threat, she said.
Other bilateral discussions
On other key bilateral discussions held by President Obama, Mr. Rhodes said that the U.S. had established a new agreement on the Northern Distribution Network during discussions with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Under this agreement the U.S. would be able to utilise polar air routes that then channelled both troops and equipment supplies via Kazakhstan into countries such as Afghanistan. This would save the U.S. significant amounts of time and money, Mr. Rhodes explained.
On President’s Obama’s bilateral discussions with the President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and President Nazarbayev, Mr. Rhodes commented that both countries had given up plans for nuclear weapons development that they might have had in the past, and yet were on the route to nuclear security and economic prosperity.
Labels: Barack Obama, India-U.S. ties, Manmohan Singh, non-proliferation, NPT, nuclear issue
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Pakistan should rein in LeT: Blake
From The Hindu
Pakistan would not be acting in its own interests if it endangered the United States by failing to rein in Lashkar-e-Taiba, Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, on Friday suggested.
In an interview Mr. Blake said, “Lashkar-e-Taiba is a terrorist group based in Pakistan that has increasingly global ambitions and global scope… and so it’s in the interest of Pakistan to rein in the activities of LeT.”
Signalling growing concerns in the U.S. over the LeT’s capacity to target locations outside South Asia, Mr. Blake’s comments came a day after a hearing on Capitol Hill at which Congressmen noted that “The LeT has put the world on notice that they intend to escalate the carnage and spread it worldwide.”
Touching upon the first Indo-Pakistan talks since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Mr. Blake said, “We do believe that one of the most important things to work on is this issue of terrorism, because, I think, it’s something that threatens not only both of these countries but also the United States.”
Mr. Blake explained that in addition to a significant increase in U.S. civilian assistance, the U.S. has also been “helping the Pakistani military to reorient itself from its historical focus on India and the threat that might have been posed by India, towards improving its counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist capabilities, so that it can really grapple and deal with the challenges in its border areas.”
He said that there could never be success in stabilising Afghanistan without the full participation of Pakistan.
Obama “committed” to India nuclear agreement
On the question of the civilian nuclear agreement between the U.S. and India, Mr. Blake affirmed that “The United States, under President Obama, remains very much committed to the nuclear agreement that was signed under President Bush, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.”
Pointing out that “very important talks on reprocessing” were under way, he said that he expected the discussions to be completed “well before” the deadline of August 2010.
He also emphasised that the U.S. was very much hoping that the Indian government will proceed with a very important legislation on nuclear liability, and was gratified to learn that the President of India has announced India’s intention to introduce this bill in the current session of Parliament.
“We’ll be following the progress of that legislation very closely,” Mr. Blake said, adding that the U.S.’s ultimate goal was to allow the export of nuclear reactors to India.
Pakistan would not be acting in its own interests if it endangered the United States by failing to rein in Lashkar-e-Taiba, Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, on Friday suggested.
In an interview Mr. Blake said, “Lashkar-e-Taiba is a terrorist group based in Pakistan that has increasingly global ambitions and global scope… and so it’s in the interest of Pakistan to rein in the activities of LeT.”
Signalling growing concerns in the U.S. over the LeT’s capacity to target locations outside South Asia, Mr. Blake’s comments came a day after a hearing on Capitol Hill at which Congressmen noted that “The LeT has put the world on notice that they intend to escalate the carnage and spread it worldwide.”
Touching upon the first Indo-Pakistan talks since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Mr. Blake said, “We do believe that one of the most important things to work on is this issue of terrorism, because, I think, it’s something that threatens not only both of these countries but also the United States.”
Mr. Blake explained that in addition to a significant increase in U.S. civilian assistance, the U.S. has also been “helping the Pakistani military to reorient itself from its historical focus on India and the threat that might have been posed by India, towards improving its counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist capabilities, so that it can really grapple and deal with the challenges in its border areas.”
He said that there could never be success in stabilising Afghanistan without the full participation of Pakistan.
Obama “committed” to India nuclear agreement
On the question of the civilian nuclear agreement between the U.S. and India, Mr. Blake affirmed that “The United States, under President Obama, remains very much committed to the nuclear agreement that was signed under President Bush, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.”
Pointing out that “very important talks on reprocessing” were under way, he said that he expected the discussions to be completed “well before” the deadline of August 2010.
He also emphasised that the U.S. was very much hoping that the Indian government will proceed with a very important legislation on nuclear liability, and was gratified to learn that the President of India has announced India’s intention to introduce this bill in the current session of Parliament.
“We’ll be following the progress of that legislation very closely,” Mr. Blake said, adding that the U.S.’s ultimate goal was to allow the export of nuclear reactors to India.
Labels: Barack Obama, insurgency, LeT, Manmohan Singh, Mumbai attacks, Robert Blake
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Obama’s Social Secretary quits over Manmohan dinner gatecrash
From The Hindu
Desiree Rogers, White House Social Secretary announced her resignation on Friday following her embroilment in the gate-crashing controversy during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s state visit in November 2009.
In a reported statement on her resignation Ms. Rogers said, “As we turn the corner on the first year this is a good time for me to explore opportunities in the corporate world.” Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary, said that she was not asked to leave the job.
Ms. Rogers, who has a Harvard MBA and left behind a corporate career in Chicago to join the White House in January 2009, was noted as much for her flair for fashion as for infusing a sense of openness into an institution that has not been known for its accessibility to the American public.
However in November, during Mr. Singh’s state visit to Washington, Ms. Rogers was initially held responsible for failing to prevent Virginians Tareq and Michaele Salahi, and a third uninvited person, from breaching White House security and attending the dinner.
On earlier occasions one member of the Social Secretary’s office would be charged with the responsibility of checking, along with the Secret Service, the identities of guests entering the White House.
In November, however, Ms. Rogers attended the state dinner as a guest and after the incident was seen as having neglected the more mundane duties of her role. While she was never officially charged with negligence, reports quoted an administration official saying “Once the state dinner deal went down, people who had other political agendas started micromanaging every part of her business.”
While this may be the end of Ms. Rogers’ involvement in the White House, her legacy may well outlive her tenure. She was not only the first African-American Social Secretary, but she was also credited with organising “hundreds of fun and creative events during her time here”, according to the Obamas.
The President and First Lady acknowledged her service to the White House for over a year saying, “We are enormously grateful to Desiree Rogers for the terrific job she’s done as the White House Social Secretary. When she took this position, we asked Desiree to help make sure that the White House truly is the People’s House, and she did that by welcoming scores of everyday Americans through its doors, from wounded warriors to local schoolchildren to NASCAR drivers.”
Desiree Rogers, White House Social Secretary announced her resignation on Friday following her embroilment in the gate-crashing controversy during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s state visit in November 2009.
In a reported statement on her resignation Ms. Rogers said, “As we turn the corner on the first year this is a good time for me to explore opportunities in the corporate world.” Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary, said that she was not asked to leave the job.
Ms. Rogers, who has a Harvard MBA and left behind a corporate career in Chicago to join the White House in January 2009, was noted as much for her flair for fashion as for infusing a sense of openness into an institution that has not been known for its accessibility to the American public.
However in November, during Mr. Singh’s state visit to Washington, Ms. Rogers was initially held responsible for failing to prevent Virginians Tareq and Michaele Salahi, and a third uninvited person, from breaching White House security and attending the dinner.
On earlier occasions one member of the Social Secretary’s office would be charged with the responsibility of checking, along with the Secret Service, the identities of guests entering the White House.
In November, however, Ms. Rogers attended the state dinner as a guest and after the incident was seen as having neglected the more mundane duties of her role. While she was never officially charged with negligence, reports quoted an administration official saying “Once the state dinner deal went down, people who had other political agendas started micromanaging every part of her business.”
While this may be the end of Ms. Rogers’ involvement in the White House, her legacy may well outlive her tenure. She was not only the first African-American Social Secretary, but she was also credited with organising “hundreds of fun and creative events during her time here”, according to the Obamas.
The President and First Lady acknowledged her service to the White House for over a year saying, “We are enormously grateful to Desiree Rogers for the terrific job she’s done as the White House Social Secretary. When she took this position, we asked Desiree to help make sure that the White House truly is the People’s House, and she did that by welcoming scores of everyday Americans through its doors, from wounded warriors to local schoolchildren to NASCAR drivers.”
Labels: Barack Obama, Desiree Rogers, gatecrash, Manmohan Singh, Michaele Salahi, State dinner, Tareq Salahi, White House Social Secretary
Thursday, December 10, 2009
U.S. impressed with progress in resettlement
From The Hindu
CHENNAI: The “threats and harassment” that members of the press continue to experience in Sri Lanka remain a “significant concern” to the United States, according to Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs. “That continues to be an important part of our dialogue,” he said, adding that the human rights situation and media freedom are an important part of the reconciliation process.
Speaking at a media roundtable here, Mr. Blake said he was “very impressed with the progress made in terms of resettling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the camps in Manik Farms and elsewhere.” With 1,15,000 IDPs in Manik Farms no longer under detention and the rest resettled, the U.S. would welcome the completion of the resettlement process by the end of January, as per the date set by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Touching on the need for political reconciliation and devolution of power, Mr. Blake said, “I know that President Rajapaksa has said that following the national elections next year, he intends to take additional steps on political reconciliation. But he has not yet enumerated what those steps will be.”
Mr. Blake said it was important to have measures to devolve power to the provinces so that elections could be held in the Northern Province and IDPs who lived under the rule of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could “finally have the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights to vote and choose their own leaders.”
Responding to questions on intelligence sharing with India, Mr. Blake said, “Home Minister Chidambaram made a very successful visit to the United States in September, during which he had very productive meetings with a full range of counterparts in the U.S. — the Director of the FBI, the head of the CIA and the Attorney-General.” Mr. Chidambaram also discussed mega-city policing with the authorities in New York.
Mr. Blake highlighted other areas such as healthcare and education, where cooperation has crystallised since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit. He said U.S. universities welcomed opportunities to invest in and partner with Indian counterparts as more foreign investment is allowed in the Indian education sector.
CHENNAI: The “threats and harassment” that members of the press continue to experience in Sri Lanka remain a “significant concern” to the United States, according to Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs. “That continues to be an important part of our dialogue,” he said, adding that the human rights situation and media freedom are an important part of the reconciliation process.
Speaking at a media roundtable here, Mr. Blake said he was “very impressed with the progress made in terms of resettling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the camps in Manik Farms and elsewhere.” With 1,15,000 IDPs in Manik Farms no longer under detention and the rest resettled, the U.S. would welcome the completion of the resettlement process by the end of January, as per the date set by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Touching on the need for political reconciliation and devolution of power, Mr. Blake said, “I know that President Rajapaksa has said that following the national elections next year, he intends to take additional steps on political reconciliation. But he has not yet enumerated what those steps will be.”
Mr. Blake said it was important to have measures to devolve power to the provinces so that elections could be held in the Northern Province and IDPs who lived under the rule of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could “finally have the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights to vote and choose their own leaders.”
Responding to questions on intelligence sharing with India, Mr. Blake said, “Home Minister Chidambaram made a very successful visit to the United States in September, during which he had very productive meetings with a full range of counterparts in the U.S. — the Director of the FBI, the head of the CIA and the Attorney-General.” Mr. Chidambaram also discussed mega-city policing with the authorities in New York.
Mr. Blake highlighted other areas such as healthcare and education, where cooperation has crystallised since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit. He said U.S. universities welcomed opportunities to invest in and partner with Indian counterparts as more foreign investment is allowed in the Indian education sector.
Labels: IDPs, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Manik Farms, Manmohan Singh, mega-city policing, P. Chidambaram, Robert Blake, Sri Lanka, U.S.
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