India US Relations

[Butter Chicken]

US goes soft on Pakistan in its demand to act against terrorist outfits targeting India, removing demand to act against LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba)

WASHINGTON: The US Congress has removed a provision from the National Defence Authorisation Act 2018 that would have required the US Secretary of Defence to certify that Pakistan has taken steps to “significantly disrupt” the activities of both Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Haqqani network.

The new version has confined this requirement to the Haqqani network only, indicating a desire in Washington to focus entirely on Afghanistan as long as it takes to subdue the Taliban insurgency there.

While the United States considers LeT a terrorist organisation, it also realises that the group’s main focus is Kashmir, not Afghanistan. Linking LeT to the Haqqani network, however, creates an impression that the US not only wants Pakistan to help it win the war against the Taliban but also wants it to change Islamabad’s position on Kashmir.

Since it already considers LeT a terrorist organisation, Washington will continue to ask Islamabad to stop the group from carrying out attacks inside India. But by delinking it from the Haqqani network, US policymakers are sending a message to Islamabad, that fighting the Haqqani network is their first priority.

This distinction is clearly underlined in a congressional document, the `conference’ version of the National Defence Act 2018. As part of the US legislative process, the House of Representatives and the Senate present their separate versions of a bill and then they go into a`conference’ to remove the differences between the two versions.

This joint version places the following additional limitation on reimbursements to Pakistan from the US Coalition Support Fund (CSF): Of the total amount of $700 million of reimbursements and support authorised for Pakistan during fiscal year 2018, $350m shall not be available unless the Secretary of Defence issues a certificate to the congressional defence committees.

His certificate should say that Pakistan continues to conduct military operations that are contributing to significantly disrupting the safe havens, fundraising and recruiting efforts, and freedom of movement of the Haqqani network in Pakistan.

1. Pakistan has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani network from using any Pakistan territory as a safe haven and for fundraising and recruiting efforts.
   
   
2. Pakistan is making an attempt to actively coordinate with Afghanistan to restrict the movement of militants, such as the Haqqani network, along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border; and Pakistan has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting senior leaders and mid-level operatives of the Haqqani network.

The House receded with an amendment that would have required the Secretary of Defence to issue a similar certification about LeT.

The conferees, however, expressed concern about the alleged persecution of groups seeking political or religious freedom in Pakistan, including the Baloch, Sindhi, and Hazara ethnic groups, as well as religious groups, including Christian, Hindu, and Ahmadi.

The conferees urged the Secretary of Defence to ensure that Pakistan is not using any assistance provided by the US to persecute minority groups.

In addition, the conferees authorised reimbursement of Pakistan for security activities along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, including providing training and equipment for the Frontier Corps, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

However, the conferees expressed concern that Pakistan continues to delay or deny visas for US personnel that could assist with the provision of such training.

Given this situation, the conferees recommended that the US Department of Defence condition reimbursements for training and equipment with appropriate access by the US personnel.

The House bill contained a provision that would state that it is the sense of Congress that Dr Shakil Afridi is an international hero and that the government of Pakistan should release him immediately from prison.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision and the House recedes.

The conferees noted the contributions of Dr Afridi to efforts to locate Osama bin Laden, and said that they “remain concerned about Dr Afridi’s continuing incarceration,” and urged the government of Pakistan to “release him immediately”.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2017

Looks like Operation Free Balochistan will take a temporary hit.US wanted India to buy F-16,F-18 with no tech transfer but India has resisted.

 

[Kalki_2018]

Freedom of baluchistan depends on India. US has no role to play in it. Good this sholud kill any prospect of F series crap in IAF permanently. Order more MKI , Rafale-36 more and 200 Tejas.

 

[Butter Chicken]

Freedom of baluchistan depends on India. US has no role to play in it. Good this sholud kill any prospect of F series crap in IAF permanently. Order more MKI , Rafale-36 more and 200 Tejas.

India can and will free Baluchistan on its own,US involvement was only to reduce Indian casualties.There is no time to wait for Rafale,we must go with what we have,or China will establish naval base at Gwadar(already internally accepted by Mil-ISI to ensure survival or Pakistani state)

 

[mayfair]

India can and will free Baluchistan on its own,US involvement was only to reduce Indian casualties.There is no time to wait for Rafale,we must go with what we have,or China will establish naval base at Gwadar(already internally accepted by Mil-ISI to ensure survival or Pakistani state)

No we cannot free Balochistan on our own. We'll have to face combined Napaki, Cheeni might on our own. China already has a naval base in Gwadar.

US will happily stand aside and let us be destroyed if it means China weakening significantly and Napakis cease to exist.

Moreover, freedom of Balochistan cannot happen without freedom of Sindh and its absorption into the Indian union. Unfortunately, Sindh has too many unwashed, uncultured, illiterate jihadi fanatics running around, who render such an option absolutely unpalatable.

 

[indus]

Looks like Operation Free Balochistan will take a temporary hit.US wanted India to buy F-16,F-18 with no tech transfer but India has resisted.

US India relationship moves one step forward and two steps back. India will nevr buy outdated F series planes so US wl nevr support a free Balochistan. Plus they also demand our presence in Afghanistan which is not gonna happen too. Wonder under what kind of constraints the armed drones are going to come. Will US allow us to use drones in PoK or Paki territory.

 

[SELVAM]

US India relationship moves one step forward and two steps back. India will nevr buy outdated F series planes so US wl nevr support a free Balochistan. Plus they also demand our presence in Afghanistan which is not gonna happen too. Wonder under what kind of constraints the armed drones are going to come. Will US allow us to use drones in PoK or Paki territory.

Lol drones r waste in india pakistan scenario. Even houthis r shooting down predators

 

[Kalki_2018]

First there has to be a full fledged insurgency that makes CPEC and Gwadar unfeasible. India can and must offer all moral and diplomatic support.

 

[Suryavanshi]

IWT is where it at
IWT is answer to all our questions

 

[TrueNeo]

US Congress passes bill delinking LeT from Haqqani network.

On Friday, the bill was sent to President Donald Trump for signing it into a law.

The National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) — approved by a voice vote by both the House and the Senate on Thursday evening provides about $700 billion for US defence needs in 2018.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1371283/congress-approves-bill-delinking-haqqani-network-from-let

 

[Butter Chicken]

India, US should launch big signature defence programme: Richard Verma

WASHINGTON: With India enjoying the status as a Major Defense Partner of the US, it is time the two nations "go big" and launch a "large signature programme" that would bind Indian and American industries and bureaucracies together for years to come, according to former US Ambassador to India Richard Verma.

In the closing months of the Obama Administration, the US put two big ideas on the table - a future ground combat vehicle and a new advanced vertical lift helicopter, which, he termed, would be "outstanding" projects to pursue.

"Also, a partnership to build India's next aircraft carrier. Whatever the project is, I think it's time to go big and I'm confident we can get there," the former top US diplomat said at the Wilson Center, America's key non-partisan policy forum.

"In the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), I do think it's time to launch a new, large signature programme that binds our two industries and bureaucracies together for years to come," added.

We do this with our friends from Israel, who are guaranteed a "qualitative military edge" he said, adding that it is also time for India to do the same.

"This would, of course, require some reciprocal obligations from India - sharing of information, signing of foundational agreements, undertaking greater burden sharing," Verma said.

Quickly clarifying that nothing he was suggesting would be in violation of India's concerns about sovereignty, he said that "in fact, what I am suggesting would empower India as a lead actor across the Indo-Pacific and help take our security partnership to the next level".

 

[Villager]

Stop giving special and differential treatment to India, China and Brazil under various WTO agreements. US

The US on Monday suggested that India, China and Brazil should not be treated on a par with poorer developing countries, prompting the government to immediately counter the offensive.

https://m.timesofindia.com/business...th-poor-countries-us/articleshow/62032566.cms

 

[Wisemarko]

https://www.defensenews.com/opinion...oad-map-and-recipe-for-us-india-defense-ties/

A road map and recipe for US-India defense ties

The U.S.-India partnership has seen substantial growth since the early 1990s, and defense cooperation with India has emerged as the defining pillar of this important relationship. The focus on defense cooperation can be attributed to two major concerns that give both nations common cause: stability in the Indo-Pacific and international counterterror efforts. To achieve both, India needs to modernize its military and ensure some level of interoperability with its partners.

The past few years witnessed the leadership of both nations tackling major policy and procedural impediments to bilateral progress, formally beginning the realization of this partnership’s full potential. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the government of India has tackled offset policies, foreign direct investment and procurement procedures, harnessing the private sector’s role in providing military capability as reflected in the 2016 Defence Procurement Production.

In addition, the U.S. government has revised its technology and transfer policies to place the government of India on par with some of our closest allies and even legally recognized India as a major defense partner. Despite these significant steps forward, the challenge of best demonstrating the impact of these historic decisions remains.

The U.S. operates internationally within a longstanding policy and legal framework where select agreements enable and advance cooperative defense relationships. This approach is highly structured, withstanding the test of time. Part of this structure includes agreements that enable technology cooperation and interoperability. In our relationship with India, the U.S. continues to insist that India embrace this established paradigm and install “enabling agreements.”

Unfortunately, India resists this paradigm while simultaneously seeking a creative solution beyond the established norm. As a friend, and not an official ally, India is very sensitive to some of the standard language the U.S. is accustomed to. For example, references to “operations” and “bases” are not acceptable to New Delhi because, if taken out of context, such terminology could imply a relationship of an alliance rather than a mutually beneficial partnership.


"The fact that the Trump administration made the effort to expeditiously close on the Indian request (for Guardian drones) signals its interest in preserving close relations with India," said Ashley J. Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Recipe for mutual success

To effectively move beyond discrepancies, both democracies must conclude the enabling agreements from a position of creative determination to get the job done. There are two key conditions that are necessary for this partnership to flourish.

First, there needs to be a very senior-level decision to tackle a challenge in the defense relationship with a firm time frame. One relevant example is the Logistics Exchange Memorandum Agreement. The LEMOA laid fallow for years until a commitment was made in early 2016 to finalize and announce the agreement during the meeting between Modi and then-U.S. President Barack Obama in June of that year. With a deadline in mind, both the governments of India and the U.S. moved mountains to succeed. A major issue during the negotiations was that the draft text of this U.S. India agreement remained the same over the decade in which this effort laid untouched.

The U.S. was reluctant to move forward with such outdated language and sought to renegotiate the text from a contemporary standing. India, however, insisted that it would be impossible to prepare fresh text and meet the compressed timeline. To reach a bilateral agreement, both governments made major concessions. The U.S. agreed to accept the dated text with minor revisions, and India agreed to accept the contemporary financial text mandated by current U.S. law. Both nations addressed standard wording to find suitable replacements for words such as “operations” and “bases.” The agreed-upon text was delivered to Obama less than one hour prior to his meeting with the prime minister. Success was achieved through a high-level approach and mutual determination to get this agreement done. It is this type of approach that will be critical for the future of the U.S.-India defense partnership.

The second condition is the need for policy and procedural changes to be coupled with a tangible program under that well-defined timeline. This has happened before. For example, with the signing of the Obama-Modi joint statement in January 2015, several pathfinder projects were announced. Two of these programs were joint projects requiring the negotiation and conclusion of agreements allowing both nations to legally partner in select areas of research. These types of agreements are common for similar purposes between the two nations. However, negotiating such agreements has historically taken an average two to three years per agreement. In 2015, however, both sides were tasked to negotiate and conclude the agreements in under six months. Balanced cooperation and immense flexibility brought success to both countries.

The past few years have exposed a very a clear formula for success in the defense-relationship of these two nations. They function best when under high-level pressure with a willingness to be creative and accommodating, while achieving the legally binding framework necessary to meet the standards of each nations’ legislature. Defined joint projects agreed to at the highest levels, with associated timelines against which progress can be measured, have often allowed for success in the past and will again in the future.

As counterterror efforts increase in volume, along with a focus on regional stability in the Indo-Pacific and specifically China, following this recipe will be beneficial for the future of this bilateral relationship. We are in an extremely unique and hopeful period in our relationship, and defense cooperation remains the cornerstone. The time is now for the U.S. and India to move beyond the aspirational and toward the tangible.

Keith Webster is the senior vice president of defense and aerospace at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, a nonprofit seeking to strengthen the U.S.-India bilateral and strategic partnership.

 

[Hindustani78]

Cabinet
03-January, 2018 02:42IST
Cabinet approves MoU between India and the USA for co-hosting the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 (GES-2017) in India

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and the USA for co-hosting the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2017 in India. The MoU delineated the responsibilities, areas of co-operation including logistics and venue related requirements between the parties for smooth conduct of the Summit.

The GES-2017 provided excellent opportunity to entrepreneurs and investors to have meetings with global industry leaders, networking sessions, pitching competitions, strategic workshops and sector-specific programs for forging new collaborations. The Summit provided a forum to enhance economic opportunities to young entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs and marginalized groups in the long run.



Background

The GES-2017 was held during 28-30 November, 2017 in Hyderabad. It was attended by more than 1500 registered delegates from 150 countries in addition to CEOs of MNCs, policy makers and Government officials.

A decision to host the Eighth Edition of the GES in 2017 in India was taken at the meeting between the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the then US President Barack Obama on 7th June, 2016 under the Joint Declaration. This was reiterated by the Prime Minister during his visit to the USA from 25-27 June 2017 and he invited Ms. Ivanka Trump, Adviser to the US President to lead the US delegation to the GES in India.

The GES is a pre-eminent forum for emerging entrepreneurs. The Summit provided opportunities for meeting with global industry leaders, networking of international entrepreneurs, innovators, investors. The summit also provided forum for pitching competition, strategic workshops and sector-programmes to help in creating new collaborations amongst entrepreneurs and Investors. The Summit provided for significantly increased economic opportunities for young entrepreneurs, especially, women entrepreneurs and start-ups.



******

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Finance
15-January, 2018 15:00 IST
Reporting of U.S. Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) for pre-existing accounts by Financial Institutions

India and USA have signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) under FATCA in 2015. To enhance the effectiveness of information exchange and transparency, both the sides committed to establish, by January 1, 2017, rules requiring their Reporting Financial Institutions (RFIs) to obtain the Tax Identity Number (TIN) of each reportable person having a reportable account as of June 30, 2014 (pre-existing account).The Income-tax Rules, accordingly, provide for reporting of U.S. TIN from the year 2017 onwards in respect of any pre-existing account.

The US-IRS has issued guidelines through Notice 2017-46dated 25.09.2017 providing relaxation to Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) with respect to reporting of U.S.TIN for calendar years 2017, 2018 and 2019. Now the Competent Authority of USA will not determine significant non-compliance with the obligations under the IGA solely because of a failure of a reporting FFI to obtain and report each required U.S.TIN, provided that the reporting FFI:

(i) obtains and reports the date of birth of each account holder and controlling person whose U.S. TIN is not reported;

(ii) requests annually from each account holder any missing required U.S. TIN; and

(iii) before reporting information that relates to calendar year 2017 to the partner jurisdiction, searches electronically searchable data maintained by the reporting FFI for any missing required U.S. TINs.

The Indian RFIs reporting pre-existing accounts should, therefore, ensure that the U.S. TIN is reported in respect of pre-existing accounts for the year 2017 onwards. However, in case the U.S.TIN is not available, to avoid determination by the USA Competent Authority of significant non-compliance to the obligations of the IGA, the RFIs are advised to insert nine capital letters e.g. (i.e. AAAAAAAA) in the TIN field (for the Account Holder or Controlling Person, as the case may be), for such accounts in their reports in Form 61B, provided that all the three conditions listed above are met.

*****

 

[delbruky]

Update: India just became the 43rd member of the AUSTRALIA GROUP

 

[Wisemarko]

First of all, Indians need to decide for themselves if they want a very close relationship with US. Just like any relationship, it carries benefits and pitfalls. If the answer is yes, then India needs to sign some important documents to get to that level of partnership. Two of them, namely CISMOA and BECA are pending for over a decade. US/NATO interoperability is a must in any meaningful defense cooperation with US. Without signing these documents, US platforms such as P-8 and F-16 will come without top end gadgets, datalinks, secure comms etc. - things that give edge over enemies.
Talking about closeness is not actually being close!

I think India is missing out on important technologies that US is willing to share by being over-cautious and inflexible.

 

[Hindustani78]

Kumar Mangalam Birla. File photo: Paul Noronha

http://www.thehindu.com/business/In...y-in-the-us/article22500356.ece?homepage=true

Two-lakh tonne unit in Kentucky slated to open by 2020
Aditya Birla Group firm Novelis Inc. plans to build a $300-million automotive aluminum sheet manufacturing facility in Guthrie, Kentucky.

The greenfield facility, with an annual nameplate capacity of 200,000 metric tonnes, will include heat treatment and pre-treatment lines, which prepare aluminum for use in vehicle parts such as body-in-white, hoods, doors, lift gates and fenders, the company said in a statement.

The company expects to break ground in early spring and create approximately 125 jobs at the new facility, which is slated to open in 2020. “Today’s announcement by Novelis to expand its capabilities in North America is a strategic decision fully supported by the Aditya Birla Group to maintain the group’s leadership position in the global metals sector and its ongoing commitment to serve both upstream and downstream customers,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Novelis Inc. and chairman, Hindalco Industries Limited.

‘Demand to rise’
Demand for automotive aluminum is expected to rise according to the 2017 Ducker Worldwide survey projection that aluminum content in North American passenger vehicles, particularly light trucks and SUVs, will increase 42% from its 2015 level by 2028.

The new facility will be in close proximity to Logan Aluminum Inc., a Novelis joint venture in Russellville, Ky., the company added.

 

[Tactical Frog]

http://www.cnn.com/2018/02/08/politics/us-allies-russia-sanctions/index.html

Interesting .

 

[binayak95]

http://www.cnn.com/2018/02/08/politics/us-allies-russia-sanctions/index.html

Interesting .

Very interesting indeed. What is even more interesting is what was said of Russian response to earlier sanctions, "pay up"..... Even if they grant exceptions to India, and others, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of sanctions?!

 

[prohumanity]

India must not be a vassal state of any nation ...not even the United States ! India should cooperate and ahve very good trade and security relations with USA as lots of basic values of these two countries are similar such as democracy, freedom of speech and free enterprise.
But at the same time, India should never abandon its time tested and reliable friends such as Russia.
Under current govt. India does have a backbone to stand tall and not be subservient to any other nation.
Remember, Indian civilization,s core value is " VASUDEV KUTUMBAKAM" means the entire Earth is one family.
India does not need to give up its core values and beliefs. India is a strong nation .