US President Barack Obama will hold a one-on-one meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at 11 a.m. at Hyderabad House here today. More specifically during the bilateral talks, India will press for visible action against Lashkar-e-Toiba. They will discuss India”s role in Afghanistan, and India and the US”s worries over China”s rising aggression. The US is [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Afghanistan’
Carrots for India, sticks for Pakistan
November 8th, 2010 |
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NEW DELHI (Agencies) – US President Barack Obama has criticised the pace of Pakistan’s fight against militants within its borders. He said Islamabad was making progress against what he called the ‘cancer’ of extremism but not quickly enough.
“Progress is not as quick as we would like,” he added, noting that many militants were holed up in the rugged northwestern Pakistani regions close to the Afghan border. Obama made it clear that the US would not ‘impose’ itself on Indo-Pak relations.
“There are more Pakistanis who’ve been killed by terrorists inside Pakistan than probably anywhere else,” Obama said.
The US President urged India and Pakistan to talk to resolve their differences as he stressed the need for peace between the neighbours, who are vital for his plans in Afghanistan.
Venturing into the delicate area of relations between the two South Asian countries, Obama insisted New Delhi had the most to gain from a stable Pakistan, while urging Islamabad to do more to address extremism.
“My hope is that, over time, trust develops between the two countries, that dialogue begins perhaps on less controversial issues building up to more controversial issues,” he said on the second day of a three-day trip to India.
“I am absolutely convinced that the country that has the biggest stake in Pakistan is India,” he told students at the prestigious St Xavier’s College in south Mumbai. “If Pakistan is stable and prosperous, that’s best for India,” he added.
Answering questions from a gathered crowd of students at St XavierÂ’s College, Obama gave an impassioned defence of US policy in the region.
Obama fielded tricky questions on Pakistan, jihad and disappointing midterm poll results from students at an open forum last event of his Mumbai visit before he headed to New Delhi.
More than 300 students attended the open-air question and answer session, in which the US president answered six questions on various subjects.
Twenty-year-old Anam Ansari, a third year science student asked Obama for his opinion on jihad, setting the tone for the rather scorching afternoon.
Afsheen Irani said she had planned to ask a question about education but changed her mind to ask about Pakistan ‘because I thought he had not spoken about this issue in this visit. It was a diplomatic answer. I had to be satisfied with what I got’.
One student asked him why the US did not declare Pakistan a terrorist state. “We will work with the Pakistani government in order to eradicate this extremism that we consider a cancer within the country that can potentially engulf the country,” said Obama.
Later in the afternoon, Obama landed in New Delhi and greeted the waiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a hug. The Obamas and the Singhs chatted with each other for a few minutes, before the president went for a scheduled tour of a Mughal-era tomb. The leaders were to meet for dinner at SinghÂ’s residence later.
Obama has frequently praised Singh as a leading global statesman, and their mutual regard appeared evident in the smiles and warmth of the often inscrutable Indian premier.
Talks between the two on Monday will look to build on a small but growing trade relationship, with Obama looking for export opportunities, as well as engagement from India politically in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Among other things, Singh is likely to press Obama for a more concrete commitment to support IndiaÂ’s quest for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.
ObamaÂ’s remarks on Pakistan did not break new diplomatic ground for the United States – his government has said before that Pakistan must do more on extremism – but were highly significant given their venue in Mumbai.
US President Barack Obama will discuss Pakistan in the context of regional security and counterterrorism in his speech to the Indian parliament on Monday, a senior administration official said on Sunday.
“The president will definitely discuss Pakistan”, the official said, but declined to go further than that because he did not want to get ahead of the president’s remarks.
The US president arrived in India looking to inject new momentum into a strategic relationship for Washington, while aware of the need to rebuild his reputation at home after a drubbing in mid-term elections.
“The United States does not just see India as a rising power, we believe India is already risen,” the US president said, noting his host’s dynamic economy, youthful population and rising strategic clout in Asia and beyond.
The president also showed evidence of the evolution of his thinking following his Democratic PartyÂ’s electoral defeat back in the United States.
“It requires me to make some mid-course corrections and adjustments,” Obama said, vowing however to stick to the beliefs and ideas that would “move America forward”, including investing in education, clean energy and infrastructure.
Obama started his India visit, the first stop of a four-nation Asian tour, on Saturday, unveiling 10 billion dollars in trade deals designed to bankroll US jobs after voters handed him a severe rebuke in mid-term elections Tuesday.
Commercial agreements included a 7.7-billion-dollar contract for Boeing to supply 30 of its 737 aircraft to IndiaÂ’s SpiceJet airline.
Security is tight for ObamaÂ’s visit. Thousands of Indian and US security personnel are deployed and a US naval warship is on patrol in the waters off the coast of the city.
Obama regretted that the great religion of Islam has been distorted by a few hardliners to justify violence towards innocent people and called for isolating these elements.
Obama also said that people would have to fundamentally reject the notion that violence is the way to mediate differences among them.
“I think all of us have to fundamentally reject the notion that violence is the way to mediate our differences,” he added.
The US president expressed these views when a Muslim student A Ansari lobbed a question asking for his views on ‘jihad’ during his interaction with students of St Xavier’s College in Mumbai.
“I think all of us recognise that this great religion (Islam) in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to justify violence towards innocent people that is never justified,” he said.
Noam Chomsky: No Evidence that Al-Qaeda Carried Out the 9/11 Attacks
November 5th, 2010 |
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Leading liberal intellectual Noam Chomsky just told Press TV:”The explicit and declared motive of the [Afghanistan] war was to compel the Taliban to turn over to the United States, the people who they accused of having been involved in World Trade C…
NATO seeks Russia’s help over Afghanistan
November 3rd, 2010 |
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NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen is in Moscow where he held meetings focusing on the Afghanistan war, and ways to increase Russia’s assistance.
Moscow has thus far shown lukewarm support for the U.S.-led war, according to news agencies.
Karzai holds ‘secret talks’ with Taliban to contain Haqqani network
November 1st, 2010 |
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Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has reportedly held a secret meeting with three Taliban leaders in an effort to weaken the Haqqani network. Jalaluddin Haqqani, a commander in the 1980s Afghan war against the Soviets, leads the Haqqani movement. The network, based in the North Waziristan’s tribal area along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, is thought to [...]
Karzai reacts to U.S.-Russia drug operation
October 30th, 2010 |
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has demanded an explanation from NATO’s command in Afghanistan for a counternarcotics raid, RFE/RL reports. He said it was carried out by the United States and Russia without his government’s permission.
NATO: Forces kill 30 militants in Afghanistan
October 30th, 2010 |
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The NATO-led force in Afghanistan says coalition troops killed at least 30 militants Saturday, while fighting off an attack on a combat outpost in the east. The attack occurred early in the morning in the Bernal district of Paktika province. NATO says the militants fired from all directions with rocket-propelled grenades, small arms and mortars.
India obsessed with blaming ISI: FO
October 29th, 2010 |
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ISLAMABAD – Foreign Office on Thursday took a firm stand and came straightforward to defend country’s premier intelligence agency making it clear and loud that it (ISI) has no connection with the incidents of terrorism anywhere.
“Unfortunately India seems to be obsessed with the ISI and loses its capacity to be objective,” a spokesperson of Foreign Office said on Thursday commenting on the Indian Defence Minister’s remarks about ISI and its involvement in different incidents in his country.
Spokesperson told the media men that India first accused ISI of involvement in Samjhota Express bombing in 2007 in which 42 innocent Pakistanis also lost their lives.
However, later events proved who was responsible for this crime. He demanded of India to share investigation of the Samjhota Express bombing with Pakistan and bring the culprits to justice.
“India should shun the tendency of accusing ISI for all its problems, including Nexalite insurgency which is spread over a large number of Indian districts,” Basit said.
During the same press briefing, the spokesperson said that Pakistan hopes that during his forthcoming visit to India, US President Barack Obama would take up issues that are central to ensuring peace and stability in the region.
“Pakistan hopes that the US being a super power can play its role for regional peace.”
“Commenting on the Indian Prime Minister’s statement expressing readiness for dialogue with Pakistan to resolve all issues, the spokesman pointed out that there was marked difference between what Indians say and what they do.
He said had this not been the case the two countries would surely have been able to normalise relations by settling bilateral disputes including Jammu and Kashmir. The spokesman said, “Dialogue doesn’t mean that we sit across the table and reiterate our respective positions.
“Pakistan wants a meaningful and result-oriented dialogue process and it will welcome if India moves beyond rhetoric and blame game, but there is nothing on the ground to inspire hope,” he said.
The spokesman also pointed out that India was killing innocent Kashmiris and hoped that New Delhi would bridge the gap between its words and deeds.
Replying to another question, he reiterated PakistanÂ’s stand that drone attacks constitute breach of its sovereignty and the United States must revisit the policy that is also counter-productive. The spokesman told a questioner that there was no link between American assistance for Pakistan and operation in Fata.
The two countries are finalising projects that would be funded through American assistance under Kerry-Lugar-Berman act, he added. He did not agree to a questioner that it was failure on the part of Pakistani authorities that the United States was not agreeing for civil nuclear cooperation with Pakistan despite its growing energy needs.
The spokesman informed the journalists that the US was appreciative of PakistanÂ’s energy requirements and hoped that the dialogue would continue. He hoped that the situation in Afghanistan would improve allowing project for import of gas from Turkmenistan to complete.
“Our missions are in touch with those countries where majority of Pakistanis are in jails to seek consular access to them.”
When his attention was drawn, the spokesperson said PakistanÂ’s Consulate General in New York was in touch with Adnan Mirza while steps were being taken to prove his innocence,
He further said that several hundred Pakistanis have since been repatriated to the homeland including those from Oman during the last one month. He mentioned that about 70 to 80 per cent Pakistanis who are in jails abroad have been arrested on charges of drug trafficking.
Time not ripe for NWA operation: Army
October 27th, 2010 |
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KALAYA (Reuters) – Pakistan will consider mounting an anti-Taliban offensive in North Waziristan only when other tribal areas are stabilised, a senior military officer said on Tuesday, a position likely to anger ally Washington.
Pakistan has resisted mounting US pressure to launch a major operation in North Waziristan to eliminate the Haqqani Taliban faction, one of the most dangerous forces fighting American troops over the border in Afghanistan.
Army has repeatedly said it is too stretched fighting Taliban insurgents in other forbidding mountainous regions, and that only it can determine if and when to strike.
Lt-Gen Asif Yasin Malik, the main military commander for the northwest, said it would take at least six months to clear militants from Bajaur and Mohmand, two of seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies, described as global hubs for militants.
“What we have to do is stabilise the whole area. I have a very large area in my command,” he told reporters on a trip to Orakzai Agency. “The issue is I need more resources.”
There are already six brigades in North Waziristan which carry out daily operations, he said.
The US announced $2 billion in military aid for Pakistan last week as the countries sought to dispel doubts about IslamabadÂ’s commitment to uprooting insurgents from safe havens on its soil.
In March, Pakistani troops launched an offensive in Orakzai, which officials described as the nerve centre for Taliban, which included training camps.
Officials said 654 militants were killed in what they described as a successful campaign that ended in June. Militants often dismiss official death tolls. Nearly 70 soldiers were killed.
Pakistan says a series of army offensives severely weakened homegrown Taliban. But militants often melt away, set up strongholds elsewhere or try to return to areas they lost.
At a military camp in Orakzai, weapons and bomb-making equipment army officers said were captured from Taliban hideouts were on display for the media. These included machineguns, rows of AK-47 assault rifles and a suicide vest stuffed with ball bearings.
Officials say militants are no longer capable of staging major operations and are resorting to sniper attacks and roadside bombings. Militants attacked a checkpost manned by paramilitary soldiers in Orakzai on Tuesday, killing one soldier, local officials said.
The army is getting villagers involved in efforts to keep the Taliban from returning by providing some of them with rifles.
“By 2012 things should have turned it around totally,” said Malik.
NATO airstrike kills 15 in Afghanistan
October 25th, 2010 |
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NATO says it is investigating allegations of civilian casualties during a coalition airstrike in southern Afghanistan.
The alliance said Monday that 15 insurgents were killed overnight in a joint Afghan-NATO operation against a senior Taliban leader in the Baghran district of Helmand province.
5-year time span eclipses conditional US mly aid offer
October 22nd, 2010 |
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WASHINGTON – On the final day of US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue Friday, the Obama administration announced a $2 billion, multiyear security assistance package to help Pakistan fight extremists taking refuge in safe havens along its border with Afghanistan.
The pledge came at the concluding plenary session at which Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said his government will give “no space” to terrorists on its soil.
The aid pledge, which is subject to Congressional approval, was announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It provides a long-term US security commitment along the lines of the five-year, $7.5 billion civilian aid package for Pakistan approved by Congress last year.
The five-year package would pay for military hardware and equipment Pakistan needs for the counterinsurgency fight, Clinton said.
“The United States has no stronger partner when it comes to counter terrorism efforts against the extremists who threaten us both than Pakistan,” Clinton said.
The aid would extend from 2012 to 2017. It comes on the heels of a White House report sent to Congress earlier this month that used unusually tough language suggesting Pakistan is not doing nearly enough to confront the Taliban and al Qaeda, despite repeated Obama administration statements that Pakistan is working hard to crack down on militants.
Qureshi said the United States should not dismiss PakistanÂ’s contributions, and insisted that suggestions that PakistanÂ’s efforts in the war on terror are half-hearted are unfounded.
“Nearly 7,000 of our valiant law enforcement officials have perished in this fight,” Qureshi said. “We do not know what greater evidence to offer than the blood of our people. Madam Secretary, we are determined to win this fight.”
Tensions between the United States and Pakistan rose in recent weeks after increased American drone attacks over the Afghan-Pakistani border, one of which killed two Pakistani border guards. Pakistan authorities responded by closing key coalition supply routes into Afghanistan.
The United States has since apologised for the incident, and the routes have reopened.
US officials acknowledge the Pakistani military is stretched thin since this summerÂ’s devastating floods, and has had to divert resources from the fight against extremists to conduct relief efforts. They hope the new security assistance will address the militaryÂ’s resource limitations so Pakistan can redouble efforts to go after militants.
In his comments, at the plenary meeting of the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, Foreign Minister Qureshi expressed irritation over what he said are US insinuations that PakistanÂ’s effort against extremism is lacking.
Pakistan, he said, has sustained 30,000 civilian deaths in recent years in a “daily fare of suicide bombings” and other attacks. Seven thousand Pakistani soldiers and police have lost their lives in the struggle — more than combined NATO losses in Afghanistan, Qureshi added.
“Nonetheless, it unfortunately seems easy to dismiss Pakistan’s contributions and sacrifices. There are still tongue-in-cheek comments, even in this capital, about Pakistan’s heart not really being in this fight,” he said.
At the plenary session, Qureshi expressed gratitude for US flood relief efforts, support which Clinton said will continue as Pakistan moves toward long-term recovery. Clinton again urged Pakistan to reform its tax system to yield more funds for flood relief and other needs from its wealthy.
Gazprom may join TAPI pipeline
October 22nd, 2010 |
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Russian gas giant Gazprom may participate in a consortium to build the trans-Afghanistan (TAPI) gas pipeline, RIA Novosti reports. The pipeline will transfer Turkmen gas to Pakistan and India. Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said on Friday.
Why We’re Losing the War on Terror
October 21st, 2010 |
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Painting by Anthony Freda: www.AnthonyFreda.com.Everyone knows that only Muslim-lovers and left-wing peaceniks want to stop the wars in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries, that terrorism is caused by Muslim ideology, and that we’re fighting them “o…
Jessica Veterans Aren’t Glamorous Enough For Jessica Simpson
October 18th, 2010 |
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Jessica Simpson’s camp has been accused of snubbing a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans after their combat fatigues were deemed too scrubby to join her on stage for a “glamorous” TV special. The 4Troops, a singing group of combat veterans, were told their camouflage gear was not fancy enough to sing with Simpson on her PBS [...]
Petraeus: Taliban allowed into Kabul
October 16th, 2010 |
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General David Petraeus said Friday that Western troops have allowed Taliban leaders into Kabul in order to talk with the government. The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan was speaking in London.
NATO ready to help in Taliban talks
October 15th, 2010 |
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NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the alliance is ready to help in the Afghan government’s efforts to pursue peace talks with the Taliban. At a NATO meeting in Brussels Thursday, Rasmussen said the NATO-led force in Afghanistan is willing to provide “practical assistance” for reconciliation efforts. He did not elaborate but noted the alliance will keep up military pressure on the Taliban.
Three NATO troops die in Afghanistan
October 14th, 2010 |
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Three NATO soldiers have been killed in a bomb explosion in western Afghanistan, a day after six coalition troops died in a number of attacks. The three troops were killed when an improvised explosive device went off, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said.
ICC unveils state-of-the-art Global Cricket Academy in Dubai
October 13th, 2010 |
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The International Cricket Council Global Cricket Academy (ICC GCA), comprising state-of-the-art cricket facilities for international as well as local cricketers, has been launched in Dubai. Initially announced as a project in 2004, the academy is part of the Dubai Sports City- a project to construct world-class sporting infrastructure in Dubai- and is managed by the [...]
Pakistan reopens Afghan border crossing
October 10th, 2010 |
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Pakistan said Sunday it has reopened a border crossing used by NATO to ship supplies into Afghanistan. Pakistan closed the Torkham crossing in the northwest Khyber tribal region on September 30, the same day NATO helicopters fired missiles at a Pakistani military post, killing two soldiers.