Nancy Powell shoots for stronger US-India ties

[Yusuf]

WASHINGTON: It's a slick, urbane touch from someone regarded as a superannuated diplomat of the old school. Nancy Powell, the new U.S ambassador to India, who arrives in New Delhi this week, is introducing herself to Indians through a you tube video in which she reveals her strong connections to the subcontinent and an ambitious agenda built on a ''rock solid foundation.''

Wielding a souped-up camera and disclosing she is an avid photographer, Powell, 65, is shown walking around the National Mall in Washington DC as she speaks about her time in India from 1992 to 1995 when she served as a U.S Consul-General in Kolkata and a political counselor in New Delhi. Between a sequence of vivid pictures she took during her India stints, Powell says she looks forward to returning to a country with which the Obama administration believes it forms one of the definitive partnerships of the 21st century.

''I am impressed by how much deeper and broader Indian-American relations have become and how much greater role India now plays in addressing the world's challenges,'' Powell says in her 2:36 minute video, which was subtitled in 10 Indian languages including Marathi, Kannada, Bangla, and Urdu, and released by U.S missions in India. Before her surprise posting to New Delhi, Powell was U.S ambassador to Nepal and Pakistan, and before that, to Ghana and Uganda.

Powell, 65, was virtually pulled out of limbo and nominated to go to New Delhi amid surprise in regional circles which expected a political heavyweight to be sent to what Washington says is one of its most important relationships. But with less than a year to go before Presidential and Congressional elections, there were few takers for the job from among political fat cats who would prefer to see the November election results and then take up an assured assignment of at least three years instead of having to resign in November if President Obama loses.

For a while, it looked like Washington would keep the post unfilled till the end of the year even though it would have meant an unprecedented 18-month vacancy in New Delhi's Roosevelt House, home of the U.S ambassador to India. Tim Roemer, the last incumbent resigned in April 2011, and the post is being manned by Peter Burleigh, another career diplomat stand-in.

But in a surprise decision, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton turned to Powell, a career diplomat who was thought to be well on her way to retirement after her final assignment as Director General of the United States Foreign Service. The U.S Senate confirmed her without much fuss last month given her track as a consummate insider.

Powell has now indicated that she intends to leave her own imprint on the ties regardless of the tattle about Washington downgrading ties with India, her lack of access to the White House, or the limitations of her tenure during an election year. Her stay in New Delhi, she says, will be more than a nostalgia trip, reconnecting with friends, and returning to walks in Lodhi Gardens.

''I am not focused on reliving the past,'' she says, and speaks of capturing a ''future of even stronger ties between U.S and India.''

''Phir milenge,'' ("Till we meet again,") she concludes, just ahead of emplaning for New Delhi.

http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/12706684.cms

 

[The Messiah]

Let the yanks either stop giving aid to the pakis or turn them into there enemy.

This dilly-dallying in the middle doesn't help India.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Let the yanks either stop giving aid to the pakis or turn them into there enemy.

This dilly-dallying in the middle doesn't help India.

I don't think Hillary's first thought in the morning is, "How can I help India today."

After a long wait following a request from a joint session of the Pakistani parliament in May 2011, the Pakistani parliamentary committee looking to reset relations with the United States has come out with its recommendations. The Pakistan National Assembly begins debate on this issue today and will likely continue discussions for the next three days. No major surprises in the report's recommendations. In a decision that seems guided by domestic politics, the report and its current "debate" in the parliament will not produce better understanding among the people of Pakistan of what their country's policy is toward the United States or what it should be. Rather, it seems destined for a marginal adjustment of issues that have bedeviled this tenuous "friendship" for years.

Pakistan seeks to stop drone attacks, renegotiate the terms under which the US and coalition troops can be supplied through the currently closed Ground Lines of Communications (GLOC) into Afghanistan and simplify the means of reimbursing Pakistan for deploying its troops in the border region. It also draws red lines regarding boots on the ground in Pakistan (translation: no more Osama Bin Laden-type raids). Underlying all these demands is the desire for mutual respect and understanding, beginning with an apology or a reasonable facsimile thereof from the United States for the attacks on Pakistani border posts. But is there a Plan B? As parliament convenes next week to "debate" this issue, we shall see what Pakistan really wants and what is attainable.

All this comes at a time when the coalition is preparing for a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Pakistan faces the prospect of an unruly Afghanistan with its negative spillover effects: millions of new refugees if fighting breaks out in Afghanistan, and the scary prospect for Pakistan of reverse sanctuary for Pakistani Taliban and other anti-state actors. The Air Lines of Communication that allowed the coalition to continue to prosecute the war, though at much higher costs, remained open. Not a word on those from Pakistan, or the United States. Codependency seems to be working, to some extent.

Plan B: Rethinking the U.S.-Pakistan "Friendship" - by Shuja Nawaz | The AfPak Channel

 

[trackwhack]

I don't think Hillary's first thought in the morning is, "How can I help India today."


Plan B: Rethinking the U.S.-Pakistan "Friendship" - by Shuja Nawaz | The AfPak Channel

We dont need help. We just want you to stop helping the Pukes. Stop giving alms and things will change.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Until 1990, the United States provided military aid to Pakistan to modernize its conventional defensive capability. The United States allocated about 40% of its assistance package to non-reimbursable credits for military purchases, the third-largest program behind Israel and Egypt. The remainder of the aid program was devoted to economic assistance. Sanctions put in place in 1990 denied Pakistan further military assistance due to the discovery of its program to develop nuclear weapons. Sanctions were tightened following Pakistan's nuclear tests in response to India's May 1998 tests and the military coup of 1999. Pakistan has remained a non-signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The events of September 11, 2001, and Pakistan's agreement to support the United States led to a waiver of the sanctions, and military assistance resumed to provide spare parts and equipment to enhance Pakistan's capacity to police its western border with Afghanistan and address its legitimate security concerns. In 2003, President George W. Bush announced that the United States would provide Pakistan with $3 billion in economic and military aid over 5 years. This assistance package commenced during FY 2005...

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship changed significantly once Pakistan agreed to support the U.S. campaign to eliminate the Taliban in Afghanistan and to join the United States in efforts against terrorism. Since September 2001, Pakistan has provided extensive assistance in counterterrorism efforts by capturing more than 600 al-Qaida members and their allies. The United States has stepped up its economic assistance to Pakistan, providing debt relief and support for a major effort for education reform. During President Musharraf's visit to the United States in 2003, President Bush announced that the United States would provide Pakistan with $3 billion in economic and military aid over 5 years. This assistance package commenced during FY 2005.

Pakistan

Interesting that, it seems, 400 of the 600 captured Taliban recently escaped.:shocked:

Perhaps Uncle Sam should re-assess.

 

[panduranghari]

Perhaps Uncle Sam should re-assess.

How can there be a PERHAPS?

 

[W.G.Ewald]

How can there be a PERHAPS?

Diplomatic inertia. What can India do with Nancy "not a heavyweight" Powell and her vague statements?