Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said Friday USA President Barack Obama had told him that he was keen to visit India early with his family, his wife Michelle Obama and tow daughters and build on the improving relationship with this country.
In his communication with women journalists Friday, Dr. Manmohan Singh spoke about his meeting with the US president on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Londonlast week.
'From my 45 minutes with Obama, my impression was that he was very clearly interested in India. He wants to improve relations with India and build on the strong ties between the two countries for the last several years,' he said.
The prime minister Dr. Singh said that Obama wished to come to India'very early' with his wife, Michelle Obama. 'In fact, he said that he wants wants to bring his two daughters with him,' he said.
'Judging by my conversation I look forward to a very fruitful relation with him,' Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said.
US has said it would start conference with Iran over its nuclear program. The decision is has being seen as a further step toward the direct engagement with Iran that US PresidentBarack Obama has promised.
It followed an call to Iran to join in a new round of talks, which would include Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. It also coincided with an unusual face of conciliation toward the United States by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, reports the New York Times.
Ahmadinejad said Wednesday in a talking in Isphahan that his government would welcome talks with the Obama administration, provided that the shift in American policy was "honest."
The Obama administration's choice is the latest in a series of gestures to Iran, ranging from Obama's videotaped New Year's greeting to the Iranian people three weeks ago to an impromptu encounter last week between an Iranian diplomat and a presidential envoy, Richard C. Holbrooke.
He also briefed them on the administration's broader Iran policy review, which is nearing completion, the State Department said. By showing a readiness to engage Iran, American officials said, the administration is trying to build support among allies like Germany and France, and more skeptical players, like Russia, so that if diplomatic efforts fail, it can marshal support for tougher sanctions against Tehran.
Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday held their first joint talks and agreed to build up strategic partnership in all areas, including fighting terrorism.
During the talks, Dr. Manmohan Singh made clear that Pakistan must show total honesty in bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to book before the talks can be resumed between the two countries.
'We discussed development in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We both agreed that our two countries must work together to counter the forces of terror,' Manmohan Singh replied when asked about his first meeting with President Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit here.
'We have a international considered partnership with the US. We both have agreed that there are enormous opportunities to strengthen this relationship and to make it more fruitful and strong.'
He described the discussion as 'useful and fruitful' that focused on development of joint relations and how problems of the region can be resolved by interaction between the two countries.
Apart from the global financial condense, the two leaders discussed the entire group of bilateral, regional and global issues, including terrorism, energy security, climate change and the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
U.S. and Russia will reopen conference to reduce their nuclear weapons, a BBC report mentioned President Barack Obama and his Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as saying on Wednesday here, ahead of the G-20 economic summit which begins on Thursday.
The discussions will be the first such talks for more than a decade. The announcement came on the fringes of the G20 summit of world leaders which is convening in London.
The U.S. and Russia have also agreed to discuss "mutual international co-operation", the two presidents said.
Obama said earlier there were very real differences between Washingtonand Moscow, but that there was also a broad set of common interests.
After their meeting, Medvedev said that he viewed prospects for future bilateral relations "with optimism". Meanwhile, Medvedev invited his American counterpart to visit Moscow in July - an invitation Obama has accepted.
Pakistan could get $2.8 billion in military help from the U.S. in addition to the proposed $7.5 billion civilian help package extend over five years, a defense officer has been quoted as saying.
The executive, speaking on condition of secrecy, told the FOX News channel that the extra money would be spent on 'equipping, training, and building infrastructure directly related to counter insurgency operations'.
Gen. David Petraeus, who heads the U.S. Central Command, separately told the channel that the money would be provided under the 'Pakistani Counter-insurgency Capability Fund'.
The money would be disbursed over five years, with $400 million in 2009, $700 million in 2010 and thereafter, $575 million a year between 2011 and 2013.
Quoting unnamed U.S. officials, the channel said that the money would be spent in a way that would not give Pakistan a greater capacity to attack another country, such as India.
Unveiling his AfghanistanPakistan policy Friday, U.S. President Barrack Obama said he would ask Congress to authorize $1.5 billion non-military aid for Pakistan every year for five years to enable it build up its infrastructure and institutions.
At the same time, he warned there would be no 'blank cheque' and that Pakistan would have to live up to its commitment in the war against terror.
US will go after Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan after consulting with Islamabad but does not aim to use combat troops on the ground there, President Barack Obama said in an interview.
"If we have a high-value target within our sights, after consulting with Pakistan, we're going after them," Obama said in an interview broadcast on CBS's "Face the Nation" program.
Asked if that meant putting US troops on the ground in Pakistan, Obama said: "No. Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government. We need to work with them and through them to deal with Al Qaeda. But we have to hold them much more accountable."
Obama made his comments in an interview conducted on Friday, the day he announced a new war strategy for Afghanistan that called for the elimination of Al Qaeda militants he said were plotting attacks on the United States from the rough region along the Afghan-Pakistan frontier.
The plan called for another 4,000 US troops to help train the Afghan army, in addition to the 17,000 combat troops he ordered to Afghanistan ahead of elections in August. Spending on the conflict is expected to rise 60 percent from the current $2 billion per month, officials said.
"What we want to do is to refocus attention on Al-Qaeda," Obama said. "We are going to root out their networks, their bases. We are going to make sure that they cannot attack U.S. citizens, U.S. soil, U.S. interests and our allies' interests around the world," he said.
The approach seeks to make trust and improve ties with an ally that Washington has at times supported and at times ignored but now sees as critical in the fight against the militant group that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, U.S. officials said.
To plant Al Qaeda, Obama said, the United States had to ensure it could not find a base in Afghanistan or Pakistan from which to organize attacks. He said Washington also needed to convince average Pakistanis that the struggle with extremists was not just a U.S. war.
"One of the concerns that we've had building up over the last several years is a notion, I think, among the average Pakistani, that this is somehow America's war and they are not invested," Obama said.
Obama government has asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to quit, but has refused to reveal why this decision was taken. General Motors issued a vague statement Sunday night that did not officially confirm Wagoner's departure.
"We are anticipating an announcement soon from the Administration concerning the reorganization of the U.S. auto industry. We continue to work closely with members of the Task Force and it would not be appropriate for us to speculate on the content of any announcement," Politico quoted the company, as saying.
The surprise announcement about the classically iconic American corporation is perhaps the most vivid sign yet of the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government in this era of subsidies and bailouts.
Wagoner has been CEO for eight years and at General Motors for more than 30 years. It is not yet clear who would replace him, or what role the administration would play in that process.
Business sources had said the White House intended very tough medicine in Monday's announcement, which turned out to be an understatement. The measures to be imposed by the government will have a dramatic effect on workers, unions, suppliers, bondholders, shareholders, retirees and the communities where plants are located, the sources said.
Earlier this month, President Obama agreed to loan five billion dollars to American auto parts manufacturers to help them weather the steep drop in new vehicle orders and the financial uncertainty at the Big Three.
Obama and his aides may have honed in on Wagoner for two reasons. First, his company is asking for the most in total federal aid: 26 billion dollars, a figure administration officials fear could grow even larger. Second, the General Motors chief was tied more directly to the ill-fated decisions that that brought much of the American auto industry to the brink of collapse.
Wagoner joined General Motors in 1977, has had a senior role in General Motors management since 1992, and became CEO of the company in 2000. He is considered responsible for increasing focus on trucks and SUVs-at the expense of the hybrids and fuel efficient cars that have become more popular in the last couple of years.
US has made it clear that it would turn clear of the Kashmir issue as it seeks to engage India and other key stakeholders in the region in its new policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
'We don't intend to get mixed up in that issue,' President Barack Obama's National Security Adviser, Gen James Jones, told reporters Friday when asked if the US expected to address issues between India and Pakistan, particularly Kashmir, as part of its new regional come up to.
'But we do intend to help both India and Pakistan build more trust and confidence so that Pakistan can address the issues that it confronts on the western side of the nation,' he said referring to Pakistan's tribal areas which Obama and other US officials have described as terrorist safe havens.
'But no, Kashmir is a unconnected issue,' Jones said. 'But we think that the times are so serious that we need to build the trust and confidence in the region, so that nations can do what they need to do in order to defeat the threat' posed by Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist groups.
'As America does more, we will ask others to join us in doing their part,' he said referring to Obama Administration's plans to 'forge a new contact group for Afghanistan and Pakistan that brings together all who should have a stake in the security of the region.'
The proposed group will include America's NATO allies and other partners, the Central Asian states, Gulf nations, Iran, Russia, India, and China, Jones said noting, 'All have a stake in the promise of lasting peace and security and development in the reign.
Michelle Obama has set the record without delay: She's not pregnant. While in an interview this month with Oprah Winfrey in "O: The Oprah Magazine", the First Lady put baby rumors to rest.
Mrs. Obama obviously has been the speculation of pregnancy buzz ever since Barack got elected, reports The Chicago Sun-Times. In an excerpt from the interview, Oprah asked her: Well, you look better than ever - despite the rumors that you've got a baby bump.
To which, Michelle replied: [Laughter] I know - I was like, "Baby bump? As hard as I work on my abs?"
Oprah continued: By the way, nobody would be happier if you were pregnant than Gayle King. Out of nowhere, she'll tell me, "Oh God. I really hope Michelle gets pregnant - and that it's a boy!"
Michelle said: [More laughter] Here's the scoop. Not pregnant. And not planning on it. Not pregnant. Not pregnant.
US President Barack Obama react at former Vice President Dick Cheney's analysis of his policies on terrorism suspects, saying Cheney's approach had brought the United States scorn instead of security.
Obama told in "60 Minutes" program that the policy on detainees at GuantanamoBay military prison under the management of former President George W. Bush had been "unsustainable".
"How many terrorists have actually been brought to justice under the attitude that is being promoted by Vice President Cheney? It hasn't made us safer. What it has been is a great advertisement for anti-American sentiment," Obama said, according to excerpts released by CBS on Saturday. The interview was to be broadcast on Sunday,Cheney recently told CNN television that Obama's revamped policies on terrorism suspects would make the US more susceptible to attack.
Obama started rolling back some of the Bush administration's national security policies. Obama ordered the closing of Guantanamo, Cuba, within a year, and an end to the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects.
Obama said, however, that decisions that land on his desk are often a choice "between bad and worse." His hardest decision thus far, he told CBS, was sending an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan.
Earlier this week White House spokesman Robert Gibbs poured scorn on Cheney's comments about Obama's terrorism policies. Gibbs called the former vice president part of a "Republican cabal" along with conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
After attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan, US President Barack Obama has expressed deep concern about an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan, saying the country's frontier regions still remain safe havens for Al Qaeda terrorists and his government was reviewing policies towards that region.
'The details are still coming in, and so I don't want to be too specific’, Obama told reporters Tuesday after meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. 'O bviously we're deeply concerned.'
'The truth is that the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated, the safe havens for Al Qaeda remain in the frontier regions of Pakistan and we are conducting currently a comprehensive review of our policies,' he said.
Obama said the review looked at US policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan and coordination with NATO allies and other members of the international security force in Afghanistan.
He would make announcements ahead of the NATO summit in April about 'the direction the United States would like to go,' he said. 'What I'm confident in is that our strongest partner in that effort once again will be the United Kingdom' and Brown.
'We condemn this vicious attack on innocent civilians but also on the positive relations that Pakistan and Sri Lanka are trying to enjoy,' he said. 'This is an attack on peaceful, normal relations, and we utterly condemn this terrorist attack.'
The Indo-US relationship, which started gaining momentum under Bill Clinton and was accelerated by George Bush during his eight years of rule, is set to continue its upward trajectory under President Obama, a top American expert on South Asia said today. Observing that it is amazing to see how far the Indo-US relationship has come in the last one decade, Karl Inderfurth, former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia from 1997 to 2001, said before a Congressional panel that the remarkable transformation in relations started under Clinton Administration and was then accelerated by George W Bush.
"It is now set to continue its positive upward trajectory under President Obama," Inderfurth said before the House Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia, which had convened a hearing on building Indo-US relationship post Mumbai attack. "This transformation has been an excellent example of policy continuity and bipartisanship in US foreign policy," he said.
Moreover, each time the incumbent US president found a willing and able Indian Prime Minister to partner with in its truly joint endeavor from Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Manmohan Singh, he added.
Within the enormous caverns of the Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan is a nugget for US companies to spend a few billions to construct roads and bridges, mass transit rails and national parks. The US president is right in expecting a massive spin off for his economy from the measure that will improve the top lines of construction companies, if not their profits and lead to a surge in job creation. In more or less the same period the European governments too plan a similar push to their infrastructure investments.
This is one part of the plan that should be of most concern to India, probably even more than the proposal to cut tax breaks for firms which ship jobs overseas. Because, in the same time frame ie within the next two years or 2012, we also plan to spend about $500 billion to develop our infrastructure in a massive way. The dampener on outsourcing will be moderated as Indian and US companies will be on the same wave length on this—cut costs. But that benefit will not work in the race to capture the global infra funds.
Put simply, after a nice lull of several years, companies planning to invest in Indian infra sectors will now face steep competition in attracting the attention of global infra fund managers. They will have to sound convincing that India offers a better deal than the US or Europe in the infrastructure business, in the next few years. This will include the rules for doing business and the rules for raising finance. All this has to be done, in the midst of the ripples that have already begun in the global financial markets about the Obama plan. At least one global fund house has already begun mobilising finance at Libor plus 500 bps to invest in US infrastructure.
We also have to remember that even for domestic infra funds, the rules for investment abroad have been simplified. Few fund managers at this stage will be able to say that given a chance they will prefer to invest in a special purpose vehicle to develop a road project in India than one in the US. These are not academic exercises but real bread and butter choices that companies in very harsh financial markets will be making very soon.
If that sounds challenging there is no doubt it is and talking to the Indian companies has made me sure that they too think the Obama plan will impact them big. So it is very urgent that we get our act right on the stuff that crimp infra investment in India.
And here, instead of moaning about the problems, I feel there is cause for cheer if one looks at some things we have recently got right. Of these, the one that needs a big round of applause is a government proposal to allow single bidders for projects, especially for roads and highways. This might seem like playing with government money but it is not. Of the 34 projects that the NHAI had advertised, only 16 have received any bids. Of these, six stretches have got only one bid.
Before readers begin to draw pictures of cartels playing cahoots with rules, it is worth recounting that the railways face the same problem. Its flagship project to construct a locomotive factory at Madhepura in Bihar has received only one financial bid out of the three companies that had put in technical bids. The phase II of the Mumbai metro project has done worse. It has got no bidders from among the seven companies that put in technical bids.
The central government is plainly waking up to the sudden drying of funds in infrastructure sector. But what is most needed at this juncture is similar realisation among state governments too. Indian infra projects with the glorious exception of the Delhi Metro have consistently been delayed in completion, largely due to state level bottlenecks. The latest flash report of the ministry of programme implementation shows that 47% of the 523 biggest projects involving the government are running delayed. The more important piece of statistic is that this has raised the cumulative cost of these projects by over 11%. The implications are obvious. Since infra project developers rarely get funding at less than 14-16% rate of interest in normal circumstances, an 11% cost over run means adding one more per cent to the project cost.
So, it is quite pleasing that governments, both at the centre and states, have revised their take on land acquisition. On February 23, for the first time in nearly two years states and the Centre publicly acknowledged that they need to go for the jugular to get land for projects. Infra projects were almost paralysed as a fall out of the problems in acquiring land from 2007 onwards. But at a meeting of the state chief secretaries with the cabinet secretary to work out ways to make the government stimuluspackage work, ministry officials, to quote the government release, told states to give "special attention to land acquisition wherever projects are stalled on account of this reason". In Indian government speak that could mean a big step forward.
Would these be enough? I doubt it. In the next few months, several Indian entities will approach the international markets to raise debt to finance their projects. To ensure they have any reasonable chance to compete, the entire infra project approval and delivery mechanism needs to be redrawn very fast.
The US President, Barack Obama wants to watch Slumdog Millionaire, the White House has said.
Slumdog Millionaire, the exhilarating rags-to-riches fairy tale set in Mumbai, swept the Oscars with eight awards including the best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay; with A R Rahman becoming the only Indian to bag two Oscars for the best score and original song.
"I don't know if he has seen Slumdog Millionaire. I know he wants to," White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, told reporters during the course of his daily press briefing.
Gibbs said Obama has watched several movies recently. "I think that a lot of the movies that he has seen recently are movies that might also entertain a seven-and-a-10-year-old girl. Not sure that Slumdog Millionaire would be on that list," Gibbs said.
The US President, Barack Obama wants to watch Slumdog Millionaire, the White House has said.
Slumdog Millionaire, the exhilarating rags-to-riches fairy tale set in Mumbai, swept the Oscars with eight awards including the best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay; with A R Rahman becoming the only Indian to bag two Oscars for the best score and original song.
"I don't know if he has seen Slumdog Millionaire. I know he wants to," White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, told reporters during the course of his daily press briefing.
Gibbs said Obama has watched several movies recently. "I think that a lot of the movies that he has seen recently are movies that might also entertain a seven-and-a-10-year-old girl. Not sure that Slumdog Millionaire would be on that list," Gibbs said.
