Barak Obama Visit To INDIA

[Chanakyaa]

Obama Landed in mumbai Live videos | Obama in Mumbai videos | Obama Mumbai tour Live | Obama Mumbai live streaming | Obama India visit live streaming | obama India tour live streaming

US President Barack Obama will begin a trade-focused visit to India on Saturday in Mumbai with a sombre tribute to the victims of the 2008 attacks on the city by Islamic extremists.

India’s financial hub is Obama’s first stop on a four-nation Asia tour which is expected to be heavily weighted towards strengthening ties with fast-growing economies in the thriving region.

The trip comes just days after his Democratic Party’s drubbing in mid-term elections in which the state of the US economy was a primary source of voter dissatisfaction.

The visit to Mumbai will see Obama and his wife Michelle become the most high-profile guests to stay at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel since the attacks two years ago by 10 Islamist militants that claimed 166 lives.

Obama is expected to meet survivors and pay tribute to those who died at a permanent memorial erected at the luxury seafront hotel, which was the focus of the militant assault and where 31 people, including 12 members of staff, were killed.

Security is tight for the visit, with roads closed, a ban enforced on sea traffic off the coast, and the plaza near the Taj and Gateway of India monument sealed off.

Some 5,000 security personnel, including US Secret Service, Indian intelligence officials and elite commandos have been deployed around the venues for the presidential visit in south Mumbai.

At the time of the attacks — likened by some in India to those in the United States on September 11, 2001 — the then president-elect Obama said they demonstrated "the grave and urgent threat of terrorism".

He also called for closer ties with India and other countries to root out and destroy extremist networks.

US officials now say that cooperation with India on counter-terrorism is at its highest-ever level, despite India’s misgivings about continued US support for its longstanding rival and neighbour Pakistan.

The only surviving gunman from the attacks said they were recruited, trained and equipped by the banned, Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) with support from elements in the country’s military and intelligence service.

New Delhi has also questioned how much the United States knew about the activities of a US-Pakistani national, David Coleman Headley, who earlier this year admitted scouting potential targets in Mumbai before the attacks.

In Mumbai, Obama will visit the house where the father of the Indian independence movement Mahatma Gandhi stayed on visits to the city. The US president has cited Gandhi as a key influence.

From there he meets captains of industry and entrepreneurs at a US-India Business Council forum, where he will stress the commercial opportunities offered by Asia, as he seeks to boost US exports to create jobs at home.

"The primary purpose (of the India trip) is to take a bunch of US companies and open up markets so that we can sell in Asia and some of the fastest-growing markets in the world," Obama told reporters on Thursday.

US exports to India have quadrupled in the last seven years to about 17 billion dollars a year, while service exports have tripled to 10 billion dollars a year.

Relations between the world’s two largest democracies have warmed considerably in the past 10 years, but there are niggling disagreements over issues like US controls on the export of "dual-use" technology with military and civil applications.

Obama moves on to New Delhi on Sunday where he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and deliver an address to parliament on Monday.

The next morning he leaves for Indonesia on the second leg of his tour, which will also take him to the G20 summit in South Korea and then on to Japan.

source: Obama kicks off Asia tour with 26/11 attacks tribute - The Times of India

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[Indiannn]

Some other things that Obama mentioned during his recently concluded speech
India-US ties,to be the defining ties of 21st century.


Democracy and Economic prosperity go hand-in-hand,Targeting China here
As it has been said,that China is enjoying a prosperous growth right now,but the future is cheeky.

"India,as we all know one of the fastest growing countries,investing billions of dollars in infrastructural development,as i heard from many of the Americans,the shock they get everytime they visit this nation and witness the remarkable improvement."

"India,poised to be one of the world's most important economies soon."


The lovely one:
"Today,i feel privileged to be in India and thanks to the Indians for the fabulous reception that i have already received."

 

[Chanakyaa]

Barack Obama Landed over Mumbai Airport & reached Hotel Taj, India

India's Fastest Growing Company In Steel Product in India Welcomes Mr Obama. Its Our Pleasure that Obama ( US President ) Here in India.



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Nov 06, 2010 – India's Fastest Growing Company In Steel Product in India Welcomes Mr Obama. Its Our Pleasure that Obama ( US President ) Here in India.

Magppie Team Happy To be a part of this Moment. Obama. Obama Schedule in india Given Below.

Day One (Nov 6)

- 12:50 pm - Air Force One will Landed over at Mumbai airport, India
- 1:30 - 2:30 pm - At Taj memorial service, Obama will speak on terrorism remembering the 26/11 attacks
- 4:30 pm - Business summit

Day Two (Nov 7)

- Diwali Celebration with Mumbai Children

- At the Town Hall, he will later interact with university students.

Day Three (Nov 8)

- Travel to Delhi and meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and President Pratibha Patil.

- Dinner hosted by the Prime Minister & his wife

Hope Obama Also Enjoy Oue Incredible India.

 

[Chanakyaa]

YouTube - Obama India Visit

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YouTube - US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA ON FIRST VISIT TO ( INDIA )

 

[Chanakyaa]

An elephant, even if emaciated, does not belong in a cattle shed, goes a Malayalam folk saying. So let us not make too big a deal of either the US’ current economic travails or President Obama’s stinging political setback in mid-term elections this week, as we assess the importance of the US president’s visit to India that starts Saturday.

It is an important bilateral engagement, keenly watched in other Asian capitals for its multilateral implications. India has never been as strong at the time of past American presidential visits, by Eisenhower, Nixon, Carter and Clinton , as it is today, when its $1.4-trillion economy growing at close to 9% is a major driver of world growth.

Nor had China performed its ominous rise as a big power that is fond of flexing its muscles in the neighbourhood, making a strong but benign counterweight in the region a whole lot more than desirable. India will engage with the US not as a supplicant but as a partner on the world stage.

The US has traditionally always known what it wanted from its partners and allies. India has had the good fortune to have prime ministers with a lucid grasp of the country’s needs, but such understanding has not been a general characteristic of the political class as a whole.

So sections of them fawn on powerful visitors, while others denounce them and yet others try to push sectional interests. They need to outgrow such infantilism. On the current occasion, India can seek agreement on three fronts.

An Indo-US partnership to support democracy and its expansion around the world has the potential to serve as a major strategic platform. Democracy in the Muslim world is the ultimate antidote to terror served up in the name of jihad.

The autocracies that abut Palestine and nominally support the Palestinian cause fear destabilisation, in case a democratic state of Palestine is, in fact, created. Relentless oppression of Palestinians drains the essence of democracy from the Israeli nation as well. Pakistan and Iran, not to speak of Afghanistan, need radical democratic reform to strip jihadi groups of political and theological legitimacy.

Democratic aspirations in China, particularly in the autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, have the potential to hobble the imperial ambitions of those who see themselves as inheritors of the dragon throne. Project Democracy, indeed, has tremendous potential.

The remaining US restrictions on sale of high technology to India must go. India’s track record on proliferation of sensitive technologies is devoid of any blemish, although India is not a member of institutional arrangements against proliferation such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Missile Control Technology Regime and the Wassenaar arrangement.

This is crucial to complete the logic of the Indo-US nuclear deal that wangled associate membership of the nuclear club for India, ending the technology denial regime that had throttled the country’s strategic prowess ever since it first demonstrated its nuclear capability.

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Obama visit: India downplays differences, hopes for high-tech trade

2010-11-04 20:00:00
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New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) Two days ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit, India Thursday sought to downplay differences over a host of persisting issues like outsourcing and a UN Security Council seat and hoped for a positive outcome over easing of high-tech exports and civil nuclear trade between the two countries.

Briefing reporters over Omaba's Nov 6-9 visit, his first to India, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao cautioned against jumping to hasty conclusions over issues and hoped that the presidential trip will be 'an important milestone in elevating our global strategic partnership to a new level'.

Rao said there has been a good 'working progress' on the elimination of restrictions over export of dual-use technologies as the governments of both countries were of the view that the issue needed to be reviewed in order to reduce and 'ultimately eliminate' it.

She said India was 'reasonably optimistic' about the relaxation of US high-tech exports and its support for joining elite nuclear clubs like the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

'The discussions have covered considerable ground. We are reasonably optimistic about the outcome,' Rao said.

She said this when asked whether India was expecting the US' expression of support for joining elite nuclear clubs like the NSG, the Australia Group and Wassenaar Arrangement that control global trade in sensitive dual-use technologies.

When asked about Obama's remarks in an interview that the easing of high-tech exports was a difficult issue, Rao sought to downplay it and warned against jumping to hasty conclusions.

Striking an upbeat note on completing the remaining steps to implement the nuclear deal, Rao said that India has invited US companies to explain to them the provisions of its domestic civil nuclear liability law and address their concerns. 'We are hopeful of American companies participating in India's nuclear sector. We are at a stage where commercial negotiations could begin,' she said, adding that a large commercial delegation from the US is likely to visit India shortly in this connection.

Rao highlighted issues that will figure in discussions between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Obama that will include the global economic situation, the threat of terrorism, convergent interests of both India and the US in Afghanistan and challenges emanating from Pakistan and the shared goals of sustained security, stability and prosperity in Asia.

'The US administration under President Obama has expressed its commitment to strengthen Indo-US bilateral relations further, building upon the existing level of cooperation in various areas of bilateral and global engagement,' she said.

However, Rao sought to downplay issues over which India and the US don't see eye to eye. When asked about Obama's vacillation in a pre-visit interview about supporting India for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Rao said that both sides have discussed it in a 'candid, open and transparent manner.. The US is fully increasingly aware of India's potential for contribution to global affairs and global security'.

Besides strategic issues, the two sides are expected to deepen their development cooperation by signing some pacts in diverse areas, including agriculture, space, health and clean energy.

Downplaying the row over the nature of information sharing by the US over Pakistan-American David Headley's link to the Lashkar plan to target Mumbai, Rao underlined that that there has been unprecedented bilateral counter-terror cooperation. 'We have not been denied any information,' she added.

Similarly she sought to create a positive pitch for the presidential visit, saying India will seek to convey that outsourcing has actually created thousands of jobs in the US, and not taken them away.

Rao assured that Obama's visit 'will see concrete and significant steps in a wide range of areas that will expand the long-term strategic framework of the relationship.'

All About: National,New Delhi, US administration, UN Security Council, Dual-use technologies, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Wassenaar Arrangement, Australia Group

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Obama's visit: India wants tech-transfer ban lifted
Published: Monday, Nov 1, 2010, 1:24 IST
By Suman Sharma | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA


When Obama visits India, the government will push for the lifting of restrictions on technology transfer to Indian firms.

In September last, defence minister AK Antony had taken up with the US administration the removal of Indian laboratories from the US list of banned entities. This was being done to ensure the resumption of high-end technology transfer to India.

The US has a system of export controls in terms of crime control, regional stability concerns, non-proliferation, and missile proliferation. This means the US categorises countries depending on which these countries are cleared for certain levels of exports of high-tech or dual-use goods.

Washington maintains a list of entities to which US companies cannot supply to or can only supply with a licence.There were 39 companies which are not free to import technology from the US.

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On Air India One, Oct. 30 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Saturday, said that he was looking forward to the four-day visit of US President Barack Obama in the first week of November, and added that he believed that both countries were entering a new phase in their bilateral ties.


Buzz up!
Interacting with media persons accompanying him a three-nation visit (to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam) on a wide range of subjects onboard his special aircraft, Dr. Singh said: "I think India and United States have entered a new phase. There is cordiality; there is understanding, and, its our common desire to bring about a qualitative change in our relationship."


He further said: "We have economic interaction; strategic interaction. We are strategic partners, and therefore, there are many areas we have where I think there is interest (bilaterally). We must explore with US to find out if there is commonality."

President Obama and US First Lady Michelle Obama are due to visit Mumbai (November 6 and 7) and New Delhi (November 7 to 9).

They will use the trip to interact with survivors of the 26/11 terror strike in Mumbai, visit Mani Bhavan where Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi used to stay whenever he was in Mumbai, interact with captains of Indian and American industry. In Delhi, they are expected to have a private dinner with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur, visit Humayun's tomb, have bilateral talks with the Indian leadership and sign several agreements of mutual interest to the two countries and meet President Pratibha Devisingh Patil. They will also attend a state banquet hosted by the Indian president before departing for Indonesian capital Jakarta.

According to US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter, President Obama would come with a message of peace to the region during his visit to India.

Munter also said that the United States would support any effort by Pakistan and India to resolve the longstanding issue of Jammu and Kashmir bilaterally.

The US President would convey to India that Pakistan and India could find solution to the regional issues by working together, he added. By Naveen Kapoor(ANI)

 

[ARCHON]

Obama In India : US announces $ 10 bn trade deal with India​

Obama in India : Barrack Obama may have timed his India visit just a trifle wrong as the elections have already been conducted and his party has already given in at various districts and states. However, there is no denying the fact that the president of the United States of America would refer to the India visit as a successful one as he has brought good news out of it and that too in such a segment that has been the real fighting issue in the entirety of his nation – jobs.



Apparently Obama's India trip has meant sustaining of 54,000 jobs of his country’s men and women. The trade deals done with India have resulted in a net worth of about ten billion dollars and that would be sufficient to compensate 54,000 employees. And to add to the good news, companies in the US would gain easier entry into the country for doing business there.

The technologies that had been labeled as dual use have been relaxed further with regards to their purchasing restrictions. Obama is touring Asia for ten days in which he is slated to visit four different countries in the continent. His tour has started with India and only the first day has made the Americans smile or so we would like to believe.

The main focus of the president over the course of the tour will be to try and ameliorate the domestic job sector scene in America which being in the current state that it is has accounted largely for the losses that his party has suffered during the recently conducted midterm elections.

The deal made with India is restricted strictly to the purposes of trade and nothing else and it seems that India are really interested in the aircraft manufacturing scene in America. A domestic airways in India by the name of Spice Jet are interested in purchasing Boeing 737s from the company for commercial flights; as many as 33 of them. To add to that the Air Force of India are intent on buying 10 C17 planes from them.





Obama In India : US announces $ 10 bn trade deal with India

 

[Chanakyaa]

Just days ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit, the Indian administration is confident of crucial decisions being taken during the visit. The Indian side is gung-ho on that the relationship will get a further fillip during Obama's visit. India's ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, says the visit will add to the strategic ties between the two countries.
Shankar said, “There will be specific areas on which we will see progress such as export controls. There are a range of other agreements and areas such as agriculture, health, clean energy where we expect that there will be specific agreements. So it will be a broad based agenda. But I think the basic message is the growing importance of the strategic partnership.”

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Expectations are high among corporate leaders in both countries. So what can we expect from the President's visit.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, KV Kamath, Non-Executive Chairman, ICICI Bank and John Flannery, President and CEO, GE India gave their perspective on the economic message that Obama might be giving to the people of India during his trip.
Below is a verbatim transcript of the interview. Also watch the accompanying video.
Q: Let me start by asking you, President Obama arrives at a time in India when India is growing at a healthy pace of over 8.5%. President Obama himself is facing pressure back home in order to create jobs. What do you think will he be seeking when he is talking about a greater engagement with India in this context?
Kamath: I believe that President Barack Obama’s visit comes at a time which is very fortuitous for India, and in a way for the US too. For India because the pace we are growing and I always maintain that we are growing already into double digits and we need large markets to engage with. By engage with I don’t necessarily mean to export into, export and import from.
The US is the world’s largest market by far for any sort of product. I think getting closer to this market in an economic sense is of paramount importance to India in its own quest in terms of its own economic future. As far as we are concerned that would be the agenda from the Indian side.
From the US side, again if I flip the mirror as it were India is a large market which should double in the next 3 to 4 years in terms of opportunity. America is a manufacturing nation. I think that part of it also would be of significant interest to the US in a situation where they are striving to keep their industry competitive and employment going.
So I see a great fit in terms of opportunities. I think the visit comes at the right time. Issues that could be there in terms of knowledge industry to me are issues which in a way are overplayed. The real issue is a much larger economic agenda that both countries would have.
Q: What should Obama’s message be to India, its people, what would you for instance like to hear from him while he is in India?
Flannery: A couple of things. I was surprised, to be honest with you, in my first year here that a number of people would ask me, how does the US really feel about India, how does President Obama feel about India relative to President Bush. There is a level of uncertainty may be or may be unfamiliarity.
So one message I want to come out loud and clear is that the US really is a key ally of India and looks at India in the same way as a trusted partner for us now and in the future. So one key point is just the relationship between the two countries and how important it is to both sides.
Then the second thing I think again is hopefully take some of the emotion and rhetoric out of the economic story and focus more on the mutual benefits that we talked about before - jobs, technology transfer, working on the big issues that are facing both countries healthcare, clean energy. That’s the reality of what’s going on, on the ground, between the two countries. It’s a very positive thing for both countries and I really want that message to come out.
Q: India does not enjoy the strategic warmth that it had. As far as business is concerned perhaps some would say that we enjoyed during the Bush administration and the Bush regime. In that sense do you really expect this trip to be a game changer given the political compulsions that president Obama’s faced with domestically?
Kamath: This trip will be a game-changer. Reason is very simple. At the President’s end there is certainly warmth towards India and at our Prime Minister’s end there is warmth towards the US and towards the President in particular.
But the larger issue is the timing of the visit. India, I would think, has just stepped into a double digit growth paradigm, I think means to me that it in a way is recognizing the game changing nature of Indian economics and comes in at that point of time. So to me it clearly is not an ice breaker. I think it’s a game changer.
Q: The US administration has moved on certain policy decisions with respect specifically to the IT sector curbs on outsourcing on the kind of HIB visa, several people have called this election time rhetoric. Do you believe that after this visit the US administration may perhaps have a new and better understanding of the realities of outsourcing?
Kamath: I think two things are required on this front. One I would think is the Indian side, which I am sure will explain its position and how it looks at this whole context because I think that we need to do a job in terms of selling our point and our point should be that it’s a win–win situation. It is not a win–lose situation. I would think that there is scope for us possibly to do a better job.
I am sure this occasion would be used to do that in the communication exercise. That’s one. Secondly I think probably the seriousness with which India and Indian businesses look at this issue and their willingness to address this issue and communicate and convince, I think will be well understood by the American team. I think it will be good for both sides in this context.
Q: Do you think this issue of outsourcing and sensitivities on both sides can dampen this visit?
Flannery: Personally I think the whole outsourcing issue is overblown as you indicated. I don’t think it’s going to dominate the discussion over the next few days. I know it makes for good press and interesting for people to talk about it. But I think the reality is the relationship between the countries is very mutually beneficial. People try to portray it as a zero sum game, one job to be had and it is either going to be in the US or it is going to be in India.
That's how the emotions start to flair around the outsourcing thing. The reality is quite different from that. What we are focused on as a company and I think what we need to do is as business leaders as part of this trip is convey to all constituents that the economic growth between these two countries creates jobs everywhere. Certainly that’s our experience here at GE. We are creating jobs locally quite a bit and we are creating a lot of jobs in the US, as a result of our business activity in India.

 

[Chanakyaa]

Obama’s India visit should affirm New Delhi’s global role
NOV 4, 2010 11:16 EDT

(Lisa Curtis is Senior Research Fellow for South Asia at the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation. The views expressed in this column are her own and do not represent those of Reuters)

U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to India this weekend comes in the wake of major losses for his party in the U.S. mid-term elections. The results, largely viewed as an indictment of Obama’s handling of the economy, record deficit spending and health care reform, could lead the U.S. President to tread cautiously during his India visit.

Obama may be tempted to limit his message to one that focuses on India as a destination for U.S. exports and highlights U.S.-India business collaboration. While these are indeed important issues, Obama must also emphasise the broader significance of the U.S.-India strategic partnership in strengthening democratic forces and balancing China’s rise in East Asia.

Obama has often adopted an overly simplistic approach toward U.S.-India trade and economic ties, focusing on India as an economic competitor to the U.S. During a speech on the campaign trail in July 2008, Obama noted that “children in Raleigh and Boston” are forced to compete with “children in Bangalore and Beijing”. In August, Obama signed a law raising U.S. visa fees for foreign workers in the information technology (IT) sector — a protectionist move directed against Indian IT companies that bring high skilled labour into the U.S.

While clamping down on outsourcing, Obama has missed the larger story on the benefits to the U.S. economy from increased investment and trade ties between the two countries. For example, as Indian companies expand their operations in the U.S., they will create jobs for U.S. citizens and purchase equipment that will in turn generate additional economic activity.

Indian software major Wipro recently hired 500 skilled U.S. workers in Atlanta, while IT service provider Tata Consultancy Services is expanding its campus outside Cincinnati to eventually employ 1,000 professionals. Likewise, when American companies invest in India, they not only create jobs there, they also build efficiencies and create export opportunities that lead to more jobs in America.

HIGHLIGHT SECURITY TIES


In addition to these economic synergies, President Obama must highlight defence and security ties, especially in light of uncertainties surrounding the rise of China and questions it has generated about the regional power balance in Asia. Defence ties between the U.S. and India have expanded rapidly since the 2005 signing of the 10-year defence framework agreement. The two sides have held an unprecedented number of regular joint exercises across all services at increasing levels of complexity, and including multilateral exercises like the Malabar naval exercise in 2009 that included Japanese participation.

Although India has traditionally relied on Russia for its military equipment needs, the civil nuclear deal has set the stage for a broader and deeper defence trade relationship between the U.S. and India. In the last two years, the two countries have signed deals worth over $3 billion to provide India with six C130-J Hercules military transport aircraft and eight P-81 maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

During a recent trip to India, U.S. Under Secretary of Defence Michelle Flournoy emphasised the importance of U.S.-India maritime cooperation to ensure “maritime security and freedom of navigation and against those contesting the accepted rules of the world.”

Obama’s visit offers an opportunity to solidify additional defence deals. U.S. defence heavyweights Lockheed Martin and Boeing are both competing with French, Swedish, and Russian companies to fulfill India’s request for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) – a deal worth over $10 billion. Washington and New Delhi also are reportedly close to inking an agreement on the transfer of 10 C-17 Boeing transport aircraft worth close to $6 billion. The clinching of a major defence deal during the Obama visit would send a clear signal that the two sides are committed to enhancing strategic cooperation in a vital region of the world.

As part of the growing security relationship, the Obama administration is likely to unveil new measures to relax export controls on India, a gesture that would demonstrate the U.S. sees India as a partner, not a target, in countering global proliferation. Another initiative Obama should consider is incorporating India into the major non-proliferation groupings such as the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group, and Wassenar. India’s membership in these groupings would serve to strengthen the global nonproliferation order.

The major challenge in bringing India into these organisations is its status outside the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT). From a practical perspective, India’s inclusion in the groups would strengthen their ability to achieve the intended purpose of limiting the spread of nuclear, biological, chemical, sensitive missile, and other military technologies.

India must also do its part to facilitate growing security ties. To move the defence relationship forward, India must be prepared to sign defence cooperation agreements, like the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Logistics Support Agreement (LSA). These agreements will increase interoperability with U.S. systems and enhance logistical cooperation. India must also commit to upgrading its export control system, which will strengthen its case for becoming a full-fledged member of the multilateral nonproliferation groupings.

India’s signing of the international Convention on Supplemental Compensation (CSC) last week was a positive step in beginning to close the gap between Washington and New Delhi on the nuclear liability issue that has cast a pall over the civil nuclear deal.


OBSTACLES ON THE COUNTERTERRORISM FRONT


Obama will likely face tough questions on the counterterrorism front. Recent media reports raise questions about the U.S. handling of the case of David Headley, the Pakistani-American charged with facilitating the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Headley’s wives revealed that they provided information to U.S. officials as far back as 2005 on his links to Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and a series of suspicious trips to India. Indian officials note that the U.S. should have passed them this information on Headley earlier so they could have monitored his trips to India and potentially prevented the Mumbai attacks.

Both the Indian Home Minister and National Security Advisor have sought to downplay the Headley issue in the last few days. The U.S. has committed to reviewing its intelligence files on Headley and to debriefing India with full details on the review to reduce tensions over the case. The Headley review will be useful not only to address Indian concerns but also to tighten U.S. procedures in dealing with information related to Pakistan-based terrorist groups that are linked to international terrorism.

U.S. policymakers have mistakenly tended to view India-focused terrorist groups like LeT through a different lens than al-Qaeda, despite a plethora of information showing the groups are interlinked and often cooperate on terrorist plots.

STEERING FRESH COURSE

The Obama Administration’s South Asia policy has focused a tremendous amount of attention on Afghanistan and Pakistan. India, being the stable and prosperous country in the region, has posed much less of a headache for the White House and thus tended to receive less attention. The Obama Administration also squandered some goodwill with the Indians early in its tenure by raising the spectre of the appointment of a Kashmir envoy to placate Pakistan.

Obama has since demonstrated a keener understanding of Indian sensitivities on the issue and is more realistic about the limits of any U.S. role in the decades-old dispute.

The president’s historic visit to India offers an opportunity to set a new course for the direction of the U.S.-India partnership – one that acknowledges India’s growing global role and the changing Asian strategic landscape that makes strong U.S.-Indian partnership imperative for stability and prosperity in the region.

 

[SpArK]

Obama says US, India 'united' against terror​

by Stephen Collinson | November 05, 2010

The United States and India "stand united" against terror, President Barack Obama said Saturday, launching an Asian tour with an emotional tribute to victims and survivors of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Obama, whose four-nation regional trip is designed to drum up jobs for America, hailed the "resilience" of the Indian people in the face of the assault on the country's financial capital that left 166 dead.

"The United States stands in solidarity with all of Mumbai and all of India in working to eradicate the scourge of terrorism," Obama wrote in the condolence book at a memorial to the victims in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

"We visit here to send a very clear message that in our determination to give our people a future of security and prosperity, the United States and India stand united," Obama said after meeting survivors.

"We will never forget the awful images... The flames from this hotel that lit up the night sky. We'll never forget how the world, including the American people, watched and grieved with all of India," said a sombre Obama.

The assault by 10 Islamist militant gunmen targeted luxury hotels, Mumbai's main railway station, a Jewish centre and popular restaurant.

The president said the "terrorists" offered only death and destruction and could not trump the diversity, tolerance and resilience of nations like India and America.

"We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest," Obama said, quoting India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Treading a fine diplomatic line, Obama did not mention that extremists blamed for the attacks, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, were based in Pakistan, India's arch-rival and America's anti-terror ally.

The omission was swiftly criticised by India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party as a "missed opportunity."

The only surviving gunman from the assault said they were recruited, trained and equipped by the LeT, with support from elements in Pakistan's military and intelligence service.

On the eve of Obama's departure for India, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the LeT and another group, Jaish-e Mohammed, a key planner of the attacks.

Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle, flew into Mumbai on Air Force One at the start of a trip that will also take the president to Indonesia, South Korea for the G20 summit and Japan for the APEC summit.

The journey, just days after Obama's Democrats took a drubbing in mid-term elections focusing on the economy, is designed to pry open new markets for US exports and create new jobs at home.

Security was extremely tight in Mumbai, with roads closed, a ban enforced on sea traffic and the plaza near the Taj sealed off.

US officials now say that cooperation with India on counter-terrorism is at its highest-ever level, despite India's misgivings about US support for Pakistan.

After the Taj, Obama toured the Mumbai house of Indian independence icon Mahatma Gandhi, who he has cited as a key personal influence.

"He is a hero not just to India, but to the world," he wrote in the visitor's book.

Later Saturday, a senior US official said Obama would announce major reforms in controls on high technology exports, relaxing regimes introduced after India's 1998 nuclear test and making it easier for US firms to match foreign competitors.

Obama will also highlight, in a speech to US and Indian businessmen, a sheaf of deals in India worth 14 billion dollars involving US blue chip firms like Boeing and GE, which officials said will support 54,000 American jobs.

Bilateral relations have warmed considerably in the past 10 years, but there are niggling disagreements over issues like the high-tech exports and US visa fees.

"The key to the visit from India Inc's point of view is technology, technology, technology," said Amit Mitra, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"The key from the president's point of view is jobs, jobs, jobs -- and the two must meet together during Obama's visit," Mitra said.

Obama moves on to New Delhi on Sunday, where he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and deliver an address to parliament.




Obama says US, India 'united' against terror | The Jakarta Globe

 

[Chanakyaa]

(C. Uday Bhaskar is a New Delhi-based strategic analyst. The views expressed in this column are his own and do not represent those of Reuters).

By C Uday Bhaskar

How do two prickly and long estranged porcupines make friends? Cautiously and perhaps one quill at a time, which has to be carefully got out of the way as they begin to engage. That perhaps is the analogy for the complex, contradictory and asymmetric U.S.-India relationship whose major punctuation is the Obama visit to India which gets under way on Saturday, Nov 6.

The U.S. as the world's oldest democracy has had a very complex and contradictory relationship with India, the world's largest democracy, and President Obama inherits a bilateral quilt which is a tangled mix of bitter memories embedded in the past and nascent optimism about the future.

If the porcupine quill may be extended as a metaphor, then three major (yet interrelated) strands of ontological divergence between India and the U.S. merit scrutiny.

The first is the nuclear quill whose origins go back to 1974 when India carried out its peaceful nuclear explosion, a decade after China became a nuclear weapon power in October 1964. The reticent Indian nuclear initiative (peaceful explosion?) led to a slew of stringent sanctions and punitive U.S. legislation.

For three decades, India was ostracised and isolated in the nuclear realm till in July 2005, the Bush administration made an innovative policy decision to square the nuclear circle.

In 2008, when the last of the interlocking procedures were completed -- the NSG waiver in Vienna and the passage of the 123 agreement in the U.S. Congress -- the bilateral relationship was transformed. The long-festering nuclear nettle had been removed.

Now the challenge for the Obama team is to build on this new foundation -- and whether civil nuclear energy or managing opaque nuclear proliferation a la A.Q. Khan and the non-state entity -- the potential of a deep and meaningful U.S.-India partnership is immense.

The Holy Grail for both countries will be the total elimination of nuclear weapons. India which has supported the global nuclear zero goal since Hiroshima will be gratified that it has an ardent supporter in Obama. But how much political capital the U.S. President will have after Tuesday's elections is moot.

The second of the quills is the spread of radical ideologies of the jihad variant, abetted by state sponsored terrorism. India has been a victim of this scourge since 1990 but at the time the U.S. refused to acknowledge the true nature of this threat and the more dangerous Pakistani variant of the co-relation between nuclear weapons and terrorism.

For India, the role of the Pakistani military in using deniable terror as a covert derivative of its nuclear weapon capability remains an intractable challenge -- and the 2008 Mumbai attacks are a stark reminder of the carnage this terror can inflict.

It was only after 9/11 and the Twin Towers that the U.S. comprehended the scale of the regional terrorist threat. And just as a carefully negotiated modus vivendi was arrived at apropos the nuclear issue -- terror and its sponsors will be the next quill that will have to be adroitly addressed.

Currently, the U.S. remains hostage to the Pak military to ensure the success of its ****** policy. However, Obama, whose grasp for detail and nuance is legendary, can discern the contradictions in U.S. policy wherein the American taxpayers' dollar is being used to aid a Pak military that in turn is supporting terror groups which attack the benefactors of the Karzai government .

Resolving the Pakistani conundrum is a common objective for the U.S. and India and herein lies the relevance of the third quill -- China and the texture of the Sino-Pak 'all-weather' relationship.

The U.S. and India are yet to appropriately internalise the long-term strategic implications of the rapid rise of China in this century. Both nations have perceived China as their bete noire at different points in their relationship with Beijing. The Korean war and the 1962 border war are case in point.

The Obama visit offers the most appropriate opportunity for India and the U.S. to engage in identifying these quills and removing them from the divergent end of the bilateral spectrum, which otherwise offers considerable scope for an equitable, mutually beneficial, long-term partnership based on shared values and interests.

But to get there, the tenacious Obama-Manmohan combine will have to address these quills -- one at a time.

 

[Chanakyaa]

Mumbai: The US would be spending a whopping $200 million (Rs. 900 crore approx) per day on President Barack Obama's visit to the city.

"The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit," a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said.

About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and US security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments.

"Except for personnel providing immediate security to the President, the US officials may not be allowed to carry weapons. The state police is competent to take care of the security measures and they would be piloting the Presidential convoy," the official said on condition of anonymity.
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Navy and Air Force has been asked by the state government to intensify patrolling along the Mumbai coastline and its airspace during Obama's stay. The city's airspace will be closed half-an-hour before the President's arrival for all aircraft barring those carrying the US delegation.

The personnel from SRPF, Force One, besides the NSG contingent stationed here would be roped in for the President's security, the official said.

The area from Hotel Taj, where Obama and his wife Michelle would stay, to Shikra helipad in Colaba would be cordoned off completely during the movement of the President.



Read more at: US to spend $200 mn a day on Obama's Mumbai visit

 

[Water Car Engineer]

R-Power places $750 million order with GE

Reliance ADAG chairman Anil Ambani (left), General Electric chairman Jeffery Immelt and US president Obama during the latter’s meeting with entrepreneurs in Mumbai on Saturday.

MUMBAI: Reliance Power, which has placed a $750 million order with General Electric, expects its association with American firms will generate manufacturing exports worth over $2 billion from the United States into India, the company’s chairman Anil Ambani said at a function during the visit of US President Barack Obama.

Reliance’s order for equipment from GE will help it build its Rs 10,000 crore power project in Andhra Pradesh. The contract entails supply of six gas turbines, three steam turbines, training and long-term services for the project.

In addition to supplying equipment, GE also has signed a 15-year Contractual Service Agreement for the Samalkot project, Reliance Power said in a statement.

Reliance Power’s 2,400 megawatts (mw) gas-based power project at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh is expected to be commissioned by 2012. “Reliance Power’s partnership with GE and other US companies to result in over $2 billion of manufacturing exports from US to India over next 24 months,” the statement quoted Mr Ambani as saying.

Reliance Power plans to scale up its capacity to 25,000 mw by 2015. Currenlty, the company has an operational capacity of 600 mw at its 1,200 mw Rosa Power Project in Uttar Pradesh and has also acquired operational capacity totalling 433 mw from group company Reliance Infrastructure .

“The `10,000 crore ($2.5 billion) Samalkot Project will represent the largest gas turbine combined cycle power project in India’s history and will help India meet its continuing demand for reliable electricity to support its rapidly growing economy,” Reliance Power said.

R-Power places $750 million order with GE - The Economic Times