Saturday, November 05, 2011
For LeT, India remains the “primary target”: U.S.
From The Hindu
A report by the United States Department of Defence submitted to Congress this week suggested that India remained the “primary target” of LeT, the militant group from Pakistan that is held responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
This assessment, contained in the Report to Congress on U.S.-India Security Cooperation, was accompanied by strong arguments made in favour of deepening India-U.S. cooperation in the defence sector.
Key among these arguments was the suggestion that the U.S. ought to share “top-of-the-line technology” with India, as exemplified by the case of the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter programme. According to the DoD the JSF, also known as the F-35 Lightning II Programme, has advanced airframe, autonomic logistics, avionics, propulsion systems, stealth, and firepower, which will “ensure that the F-35 is the most affordable, lethal, supportable and survivable aircraft ever to be used by so many war-fighters across the globe.”
In this context the DoD report indicated that although the U.S.’ F-16 and F-18 were not down-selected, in the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition in April 2011, “Should India indicate interest in the JSF, the U.S. would be prepared to provide information on the JSF and its requirements... to support India’s future planning.”
In the vital area of counterterrorism cooperation the DoD report noted that LeT’s activities “continue to threaten U.S. interests and South Asian regional stability,” and hence the U.S. would join with key partners such as India, “to expand counterterrorism cooperation... and our current special operations engagements in the region will continue to focus on the mutually beneficial ways in which we can enhance each other’s capabilities.”
In addition to expanding defence trade and armaments cooperation the DoD report argued that there was a continuing case for bolstering military-to-military engagements. In addition to counterterrorism cooperation this imperative would require continued focus on combined exercises, personnel exchanges and training, maritime domain awareness, countering piracy humanitarian assistance, disaster response and relief and naval and coast guard cooperation, the report noted.
Labels: 26/11 attacks, India, Indo-U.S. relations, LeT, mumbai terror, primary target, U.S. Congress, U.S. State Department
Pakistan nuclear safeguards a worry, says U.S. report
From The Hindu
A “radical takeover” of Pakistan, which possesses “approximately 90-110 nuclear warheads,” or a proliferation by radical sympathizers within Pakistan’s nuclear complex in case of a breakdown of controls,” could have an impact on the country’s nuclear safeguards, according to a report issued this month by the United States Congress.
The U.S. Congressional Research Service report on Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues noted that in addition to the growing arsenal of warheads, “Islamabad is producing fissile material, adding to related production facilities, and deploying additional delivery vehicles.”
The report expressed deep concerns that the instability in Pakistan “has called the extent and durability” of Pakistan’s nuclear safety reforms into questions, and lingering concerns remain over the legacy of the illicit nuclear procurement network run by former Pakistani nuclear official A.Q. Khan.
While the report cautioned that Pakistan could undertake both quantitative and qualitative improvements to its nuclear arsenal it also noted that such development might have a link to the 2008 U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement. Islamabad does not have a public, detailed nuclear doctrine, but its “minimum credible deterrent” is widely regarded as designed to dissuade India from taking military action against Pakistan, the Congressional report said.
Labels: nuclear safeguards, Pakistan, U.S. Congress
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Bipartisan deal averts U.S. government shutdown
It was literally an 11th- hour deal. Shortly after 11pm here United States President Obama, looking tired but happy, took to the podium in the White House to announce that after an entire week of feverish negotiations between Democrats and Republicans a bipartisan deal had been hammered to cut $38 billion from the 2010 baseline budget, thereby averting an automatic shutdown of the federal government.
The constitutionally-mandated shutdown, which was set to occur at midnight eastern standard time, appeared imminent throughout the day, and over 800,000 federal government employees, including U.S. soldiers serving abroad, were preparing to see their paycheques dry up.
With intense discussions underway through the week between Mr. Obama, Speaker of House of Representatives, Republican John Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the final rounds of negotiation were said to have come down to deeply divisive social issues such as federal government funding of abortion, cuts to mandatory expenditure programmes such as Medicare and Medicaid and financing for environmental programmes aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Earlier in the week Mr. Obama had said that Democrats had been willing to meet Republicans halfway on the actual quantity of budget cuts, in particular arguing that he agreed to a “haircut” of $73 billion from his 2011 budget proposals.
Yet he said at a media briefing that what he did not want were cuts to vital investments in education, innovation and the environment, which would make it possible for the U.S. to emerge safely from the economic downturn and be globally competitive in the future.
Democrats are likely, however, to have compromised on some of their core policy priorities, as the President announced last night, “Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful. Programmes people rely on will be cut back. Needed infrastructure projects will be delayed. And I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances.”
He was clearly pleased, nevertheless, that the shutdown had been averted, and said, “Behind me, through the window, you can see the Washington Monument, visited each year by hundreds of thousands from around the world... Tomorrow, I am pleased to announce that the Washington Monument, as well as the entire federal government, will be open for business.”
Similar to a tax-cut deal for the middle class that Congress and the White House agreed in January, there was a clamour of bipartisan support for the deal bashed out on Capitol Hill last night.
Mr. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, said that he would expect the final vote on the deal to occur towards the middle of next week, adding, “This has been a long discussion and a long fight, but we fought to keep government spending down because it really will, in fact, help create a better environment for job creators in our country.”
Mr. Reid, Democrat of Nevada, said in a statement to the Senate, “This is historic, what we have done,” touching upon what was described as “the biggest annual spending cut in history.”
The goal of cutting the U.S.’ spiralling budget deficit has principally been driven through Congress by pressure from a new crop of fiscally conservative Tea Party members, who seized control of the House during the mid-term elections last November.
Labels: Govt shutdown, U.S. Budget, U.S. Congress
Monday, March 22, 2010
U.S. Congress approves historic healthcare Bill
From The Hindu
The United States House of Representatives made history late Sunday night by passing the Senate version of the healthcare reform bill by a narrow but firm margin of 219-212. Further the House also passed the “fix it” bill of House amendments to the Senate bill, by a margin of 217-205. Every House Republican voted against the bill.
Speaking after the vote, Mr. Obama said, “This is what change looks like,” adding however that this was a victory for commonsense rather than for any political party. He conceded that it was not an easy vote for a lot of people, “But it was the right vote,” he said.
Mr. Obama reminded the caucus that the vote was for the common man: “To every unsung American, who took the time to sit down and write a letter… hoping your voice would be heard, it has been heard tonight.”
In due course it is expected that the bill passed on Sunday would lead to additional insurance coverage for almost 32 million more Americans, bringing the healthcare system closer than ever to the goal of universal coverage. It will also weaken the grip of health insurance companies over the market by preventing them from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions and restrict their ability to raise premiums or drop coverage.
Further, children may remain on their parents' insurance policies until the age of 26 and insurance companies would no longer be able to impose lifetime limits on policies. The costs of obtaining insurance cover would also fall for older people and those with pre-existing conditions through their participation in “high-risk pools.” Small business would also derive such benefits by participating in state-level exchanges and some businesses would face penalties for not providing their employees with insurance.
The bill, which will soon be signed into law by President Obama as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will also bring down the deficit of the country by $143 billion over 10 years and by over a trillion dollars within the following 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the non-partisan scorekeeper on such debates. It will cost the American taxpayer $940 billion, according to the CBO.
High drama on the abortion issue accompanied the passage of the bill. Pro-life Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak – who dropped his opposition to the bill based on the promise of a Presidential Executive Order banning the use of federal funds for abortions – was called “baby-killer” by an unknown member of Congress from the Republican side. Mr. Stupak has been one of the most staunch pro-lifers in the House in years.
Labels: Democrats, healthcare Bill, President Barack Obama, Republicans, U.S. Congress
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