Page 66 - Us India Relations

India, US have established mature relationship, says US Deputy NSA Finer

The US and India have established a mature relationship that enables both sides to identify opportunities and work through differences, US Principal Deputy NSA Jonathan Finer said on Monday. In an address at a conclave, he said the US and India have a "complicated history" and they have not always been "wholly aligned". Finer said there are many "difficult issues" that remain in the relationship "right up to the present day". At the same time, he said there is a bipartisan view in the US that both countries must seize some important opportunities that the world presents to the two sides, both geopolitically and economically. The senior White House official is on a visit to India that comes days after American prosecutors linked an Indian official to a man charged with conspiring to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil. "I think the US and India have a complicated history. We have not always been wholly aligned. We have not always found it easy to work ...

Has the fallout from the Pannun incident really been capped?

Not really, as the turn of events looks like becoming a millstone around the govt's neck as the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing on it

Henry Kissinger: Flawed genius who will be missed more in China than the US

Kissinger acknowledged India's civilisational impulse and remarkable assimilative power while retaining its identity, but he remained in thrall to China

US praises India setting up probe on alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist

The White House on Thursday praised New Delhi for setting up its own investigations on the US allegations that an Indian official was involved in a plot to kill separatist Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The unnamed Indian official appeared in an indictment filed by federal prosecutors in a Manhattan court on Wednesday along with an Indian national, who the Department of Justice alleges hired someone in the US to assassinate Pannun, a vocal critic of India and espousing the cause of a separate Khalistan. "These allegations in this investigation, (we) take it very seriously. And we're glad to see that the Indians are too by announcing their own efforts to investigate this. And we've been clear that we want to see anybody that's responsible for these alleged crimes to be held properly accountable," John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters at a news conference here. However, this will not have an impac

Ex-State Secy Kissinger advocated strong ties with India under PM Modi

Henry Kissinger, known for his disdain for India's leadership in the 1970s, has died at the age of 100, but the well-known American statesman and former secretary of state has been advocating stronger US-India ties for the last one decade under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Considered the architect of the US-China relationship since the early 70s, Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut on Wednesday. His consulting firm, Kissinger Associates, did not provide a cause of his death. After Modi became the Prime Minister of India in 2014, Kissinger, also the former US National Security Advisor, has been advocating strong ties with India. In fact, many say, over the past few years he has become a great fan of Prime Minister Modi. When Modi was here on an Official State Visit in June this year, Kissinger despite not keeping good health, travelled to Washington to listen to Modi's address at the luncheon at the State Department jointly hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary

India needs to work with us: Trudeau after US indictment of Indian national

Trudeau said, "The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we've been talking about from the very beginning: which is India needs to take this seriously

Indira, Haksar proved more than a match for Nixon-Kissinger in 1971: Ramesh

As former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger passed away, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday recalled that in 1971 then US President Richard Nixon and Kissinger created huge headaches for India but then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her close aide P N Haksar proved more than a match for them. Kissinger, who dominated foreign policy as the United States extricated itself from Vietnam, died Wednesday. He was 100. In a post on X, Ramesh said, Henry Kissinger has passed away. He was as immensely consequential as he was hugely controversial. In his long and eventful life he has been both celebrated and condemned, Ramesh noted. But there can be no doubt about his sheer intellectual brilliance and awesome charisma, he said. For the last three decades, he positioned himself as a great friend and supporter of India and indeed he was, Ramesh said. But this was not always so and in 1971 especially, President Nixon and he created huge headaches for India and thought they

US charges Indian national in plot to kill Sikh separatist in New York

An Indian national was on Wednesday charged here by federal prosecutors in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist on American soil. Nikhil Gupta, 52, has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Matthew G. Olsen said. US authorities said Gupta agreed to pay an assassin USD 100,000 to kill the Sikh separatist leader living in New York City. "On or about June 9, 2023, CC-1 and GUPTA arranged for an associate to deliver USD 15,000 in cash to the UC in Manhattan, New York, as an advance payment for the murder," according to the charges. The indictment has not named the US citizen but The Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, last week reported that US authorities thwarted a plot to assassinate banned Sikhs for Justice's Gurpatwant Singh Pannun,

Allegations of plot to kill Sikh extremist in US: India forms probe panel

India has constituted a high-level inquiry committee to probe allegations relating to a conspiracy to kill a Sikh extremist on American soil. The Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, last week reported that US authorities thwarted a plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, and issued a warning to the Indian government over concerns it was involved in the plot. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India constituted a high-level inquiry committee on November 18 to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter. "We have already said that during the course of discussions with the US on bilateral security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others," Bagchi said. He was replying to a media query on the matter. "We had also indicated that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on our national security interests as well, and relevant departments were already

US sent officials to India to 'press for probe into plot to kill Pannun'

The US sent its two top intelligence officials to India to press for an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader on American soil earlier this year and hold to account those responsible, an influential American media outlet reported on Wednesday, citing senior administration officials. According to The Washington Post, federal prosecutors are expected to file a superseding indictment against an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, in a New York court on Wednesday regarding murder-for-hire plot targeting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a separatist Khalistani leader who is both a US and Canadian citizen. The report came on a day when India said that it has constituted a high-level enquiry committee to probe allegations relating to a conspiracy to kill the Sikh extremist on American soil. The United States has discovered a plot to assassinate a separatist Sikh leader on the US soil, the Post reported. It added that the issue has been raised by top leadership ...

US offers India air defence version of Stryker armoured fighting vehicles

This is not the first time that the US has made the push for the sale of Stryker systems to India and did that in the last few high-level meetings with Indian establishments

US to launch domestic work visa renewal programme, Indians to benefit most

The United States is set to begin a pilot programme for domestic renewal of certain categories of H-1B visas in December, a step that will benefit a significantly large number of Indian technology professionals, a US official has said. This comes months after the White House announced the plan during the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June. In an interview to PTI, Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, said, "In India, the demand (for US visas) is still very high. The wait time of six, eight and 12 months is not what we need and (it is) not indicative of how we view India." "We want to make sure that Indian travellers can get appointments as quickly as possible. One way we are doing that is through the domestic visa renewal programme, which is focused very much on India. We are piloting that," she said. Over a period of three months, beginning December, the State Department will be issuing 20,000 visas to foreign nationals who are alrea

US 'bent backwards' in response to Canada allegations against India: Expert

The Biden administration, because of the significance it attaches to its ties with New Delhi, bent backwards to be very polite in its public responses following the Canadian allegations against India over the killing of one of its citizens, a top American expert on India-US relations has said. I think the US response was actually quite remarkable because Canada is a very close ally, and if it was any other country than India, I think the US response would've been much more vocal and much more strident, Ashley J Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the prestigious Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told PTI in an interview. Tellis was responding to a question on the criticism in India about the US response to the Canadian allegations that they were investigating allegations that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. India has dismissed the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated

India-US looking at finalising MQ-9B Predator drone deal by early next year

India is looking at sealing a landmark deal to procure 31 MQ-9B Predator armed drones from the US under a government-to-government framework by March with the US Congress expected to clear the supplies in the next few weeks, people familiar with the matter said. American and Indian government officials will hold the final series of negotiations on the procurement after Washington responds to India's Letter of Request (LoR) for the acquisition of drones from US defence major General Atomics (GA), they said. India is procuring the long-endurance 'hunter-killer' drones to crank up the surveillance apparatus of the armed forces, especially along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. Though the price of the drones will be finalised during the negotiation process, it is estimated that the procurement would cost around USD 3 billion. The people cited above said New Delhi and Washington will depute their respective teams to firm up the deal including finalising the cost and other ..

Indian envoy Sandhu heckled by pro-Khalistani elements in New York Gurdwara

The Indian envoy could be seen leaving the premises in his vehicle, while a lone protestor raised the Khalistani flag outside the Gurdwara

Full potential of India-US civil nuclear deal remains untapped: Expert

More than 18 years after India and the US signed a civil nuclear deal, its full potential and promise along with the larger bilateral partnership is yet to be realised, according to a top American expert. While New Delhi is yet to remove obstacles that prevent its purchase of nuclear reactors from the United States, Washington has not been able to match the policy with vision, Ashley J Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the prestigious Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said. US President Joe Biden's ambition to finally fructify the 2005 civil nuclear agreement cannot end with the sale of US nuclear reactors to India. Rather, it must extend to revising long-standing US policies that continue to make the existence of India's nuclear weapons programme an insuperable obstacle to deepened technological cooperation, he asserted in an opinion piece published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Monday. "Where India is concerned, New ..

India takes security inputs from US seriously: MEA on plot to kill Pannun

India on Wednesday said it takes inputs on security matters from the US seriously since they impinge on its own national security concerns as well. The remarks from the Ministry of External Affairs came on a day British daily Financial Times said that the US had thwarted an attempt to kill Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil. "During the course of recent discussions on India-US security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others," Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in response to queries on the British media report. He said the inputs were a cause of concern for both countries and they decided to take necessary follow-up action. "On its part, India takes such inputs seriously since it impinges on our own national security interests as well," Bagchi said. The spokesman said issues in the context of US inputs are already being examined by relevant departme

US increasing staff, opening new consulates to reduce visa delays: Garcetti

The US is increasing staff strength and opening new consulates, including in Ahmedabad, to reduce the waiting time for issuance of visas from India, US Ambassador Eric Garcetti said on Monday. One consulate was recently opened in Hyderabad and premises are being looked at in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad for new consulates, he said during an interactive session, organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) here. "I had a look at the new premises for establishing a consulate in Ahmedabad yesterday. Some more people have already joined the Hyderabad consulate as we are increasing the staff strength in the city and premises are being taken up in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad for setting up new consulates," he said. He said the number of US visas being issued in India had increased by one-third in recent weeks and the embassy was likely to issue 10-15 per cent more visas than usual in the current calendar year. Garcetti said the delay in issuance of visas was due to the large number of ...

US envoy pushes for deeper Indo-US conversations on AI regulatory framework

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Monday made a strong pitch for "deeper conversations" between New Delhi and Washington on a regulatory framework on artificial intelligence, saying it could be an example of "multiplicative relationship" between the two democracies. In an interactive session organised by Observer Research Foundation, Garcetti stressed on the need to "get in front" of artificial intelligence (AI) to avoid facing catastrophic consequences. He made it clear that while there had been deep conversations on the issue with India, there was no formal proposal yet from either side. Garcetti noted that US President Joe Biden had spoken strongly on the issue. Last month, Biden issued an executive order that required AI manufacturers to provide the federal government with an assessment of their applications' vulnerability to cyberattacks, the data used to train and test the AI and its performance measurements. "If we don't get in front of AI, the consequences, even if i

India-US ink pact to improve cooperation among startups, promote innovation

India and the US have signed an agreement to promote innovation through increasing cooperation among startups, address regulatory hurdles, and share best practices on fundraising by entrepreneurs, an official statement said on Wednesday. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on enhancing innovation ecosystems through an innovation handshake under the framework of India-US Commercial Dialogue was signed on November 14 in San Francisco. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in San Francisco. The commerce and industry ministry said that the MoU was signed at an industry roundtable meeting. Indian industry players, CEOs from major ICT companies, executives from venture capital firms, and founders of startups in the critical and emerging technology space participated and discussed ways to enhance US-India technology collaboration. "The MoU is signed with the objective to connect the two sides' dynamic startup ecosystems, address specific regulatory hurdles to cooperation, shar