India-US Relations
- Thread starter Butter Chicken
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Who was preaching to you there, you were responding to one of your own countrymen. You've spent 75 years essentially complaining about the depth of the hole you dug yourself, whilst still digging.
Gun Violence in America
Owning guns is a right enshrined in the Constitution, yet gun violence remains a daily scourge that threatens America’s most fundamental right: the right to life. Over 600 people die every day as a result of firearm violence, driven in part by the easy access to firearms, whether legal or illegal.
The U.S. Surgeon General has declared gun violence a public health emergency, but his warnings have not been taken seriously. Guns continue to be bought and sold in U.S. gun markets, both legal and illegal, with minimal restrictions. In 2022, there were 45,222 gun deaths in the U.S., an increase from 44,431 in 2021. This number continues to rise year after year.
Despite the Surgeon General's declaration, there appears to be a lack of urgency in addressing this crisis. Politicians are preoccupied with international conflicts, and the media is more focused on geopolitical narratives than on the domestic issue of gun violence.
Gun laws enacted over the past 30 years have inadequately addressed the issue of gun availability. For perspective, when 55,000 Americans died over a decade during the Vietnam War, there was significant public outcry and media coverage. Yet in 2022, nearly the same number of Americans died from gun violence in just one year, with little public outrage, only sympathy.
To recall major mass shooting incidents:
- 2015. – Nightclub in Orlando: 49 people killed, 53 wounded
- 2017. – Concert in Las Vegas: 60 people killed, 411 wounded
- 2019. – Store in El Paso: 23 people killed, 23 wounded
These events generated significant media noise, but coverage quickly shifted back to partisan political stories. The media often supports one set of politicians over another rather than maintaining focus on the issue of gun violence.
In 2020, it was estimated that there were 433.9 million firearms in civilian possession in the U.S.
While gun-related suicides tend to receive less public attention than murders, they have long accounted for the majority of U.S. gun deaths. In 2021, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (26,328), while 43% were murders (20,958), according to the CDC. The remaining gun deaths that year were accidental (549), involved law enforcement (537), or had undetermined circumstances (458).
When America advocates for freedom and democracy worldwide, it often overlooks the most fundamental right within its borders: the right to live. This crucial issue, frequently ignored or relegated to the background, must be prioritized in all its welfare efforts.
Owning guns is a right enshrined in the Constitution, yet gun violence remains a daily scourge that threatens America’s most fundamental right: the right to life. Over 600 people die every day as a result of firearm violence, driven in part by the easy access to firearms, whether legal or illegal.
The U.S. Surgeon General has declared gun violence a public health emergency, but his warnings have not been taken seriously. Guns continue to be bought and sold in U.S. gun markets, both legal and illegal, with minimal restrictions. In 2022, there were 45,222 gun deaths in the U.S., an increase from 44,431 in 2021. This number continues to rise year after year.
Despite the Surgeon General's declaration, there appears to be a lack of urgency in addressing this crisis. Politicians are preoccupied with international conflicts, and the media is more focused on geopolitical narratives than on the domestic issue of gun violence.
Gun laws enacted over the past 30 years have inadequately addressed the issue of gun availability. For perspective, when 55,000 Americans died over a decade during the Vietnam War, there was significant public outcry and media coverage. Yet in 2022, nearly the same number of Americans died from gun violence in just one year, with little public outrage, only sympathy.
To recall major mass shooting incidents:
- 2015. – Nightclub in Orlando: 49 people killed, 53 wounded
- 2017. – Concert in Las Vegas: 60 people killed, 411 wounded
- 2019. – Store in El Paso: 23 people killed, 23 wounded
These events generated significant media noise, but coverage quickly shifted back to partisan political stories. The media often supports one set of politicians over another rather than maintaining focus on the issue of gun violence.
In 2020, it was estimated that there were 433.9 million firearms in civilian possession in the U.S.
While gun-related suicides tend to receive less public attention than murders, they have long accounted for the majority of U.S. gun deaths. In 2021, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (26,328), while 43% were murders (20,958), according to the CDC. The remaining gun deaths that year were accidental (549), involved law enforcement (537), or had undetermined circumstances (458).
When America advocates for freedom and democracy worldwide, it often overlooks the most fundamental right within its borders: the right to live. This crucial issue, frequently ignored or relegated to the background, must be prioritized in all its welfare efforts.
Exactly, what conflict is he referring to? Both of the nation are not in conflict.
Ties with US will always remain transactional, no amount of threat or smooth talk will ever change that. Looks like PM's visit to russia has severely deflated their ego.
US in their arrogance managed to antagonize the most west supporting govt in India, if congress/left govt was in power they would have seen even a bigger middle finger.
Senator Marco Rubio introduces U.S.-India Defense Cooperation Act
Senator Rubio’s bill proposes to put India at the same level as allies like Japan, Israel, Korea and NATO; exempt India from CAATSA sanctions, and impose sanctions on Pakistan for promoting terrorism in India.
Published - July 26, 2024 12:11 pm IST - Washington
Senator Rubio’s bill proposes to put India at the same level as allies like Japan, Israel, Korea and NATO; exempt India from CAATSA sanctions, and impose sanctions on Pakistan for promoting terrorism in India.
Published - July 26, 2024 12:11 pm IST - Washington
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio on July 25 introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate which proposes to treat India on par with its allies like Japan, Israel, Korea and NATO allies regarding technology transfers and supporting India in its response to growing threats to its territorial integrity. It also proposes to bar Pakistan from receiving security assistance if it is found to have sponsored terrorism against India.
“Communist China continues to aggressively expand its domain in the Indo-Pacific region, all while it seeks to impede the sovereignty and autonomy of our regional partners. It’s crucial for the U.S. to continue its support in countering these malicious tactics. India, along with other nations in the region, is not alone,” Mr. Rubio said after he introduced the U.S.-India Defense Cooperation Act in the Senate.
What’s in the bill?
The bill notes that the U.S.-India partnership is vital to countering China’s influence. It is essential to enhance our strategic diplomatic, economic, and military relationship with New Delhi, the bill asserts.
Among other things, the bill would set a Statement of Policy that the U.S. will support India in its response to growing threats to its territorial integrity, provide necessary security assistance to India to deter adversaries and cooperate with India for defence, civil space, technology, medicine and economic investments.
Given the short timeline of a bitterly divided Congress in an election year, the bill is unlikely to make much headway but it might be reintroduced in the next Congress, given that there is bipartisan support on the India-U.S. relationship.
When passed into law, it would provide a limited exemption for India from CAATSA sanctions for purchases of Russian equipment that are currently used by the Indian military and expedite the process to sell defence articles, services, design and construction services, and major defence equipment to India.
It proposes to treat India as if it were of the same status as the U.S. allies such as Japan, Israel, Korea, and NATO allies regarding technology transfers; authorise the Secretary of State to enter into a memorandum of understanding with India to increase military cooperation; expedite excess defence articles to India for two years and grant India the same status as other allies; and expand International Military Education and Training Cooperation with New Delhi.
Bill proposes a ban on Pakistan from receiving security assistance
It requires a report to Congress on Pakistan’s use of offensive force, including through terrorism and proxy groups, against India; and bar Pakistan from receiving security assistance if it is found to have sponsored terrorism against India.
This is the first time that such an India-centric bill has been introduced in the U.S. Congress — it proposes to put India at the same level as that of its treaty allies, exempt it from CAATSA sanctions, and impose sanctions on Pakistan for promoting terrorism in India
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Source: The Hindu
This is probably just pandering for votes but still we'll see of initiatives like this continue.
you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, only after they've tried everything else.” — Winston Churchill.
given that no major policy decisions will be taken until elections are over & even the current govt in India is just passing time to see who the next incumbent will be, whats the point of this bill ? India wants moon but US still keeps selling pakistan, US state dept are still stuck in 1990's.
FBI case naming me in Pannun plot is a political game: Nikhil Gupta - The Sunday Guardian Live
NEW DELHI: ‘I am an innocent man who has been framed,’ says Nikhil Gupta, who is in a US prison, in the first ever interview to a media outlet. He also
sundayguardianlive.com
India open to unprecedented cooperation with US because of Chinese aggression says ex-NSA McMaster
PTI | Updated: August 29, 2024 19:13 IST
PTI | Updated: August 29, 2024 19:13 IST
Washington, Aug 29 (PTI) India is willing to engage in unprecedented levels of cooperation with the US, mainly due to the Chinese aggression, but at the same time New Delhi is "fearful" both of "entrapment" and "abandonment" by Washington, former National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) H R McMaster has said.
Giving a firsthand account of his tenure during the Donald Trump administration as the National Security Advisor, McMaster in his book "At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House,” which hit the bookstores this Tuesday, says he met his Indian counterpart Ajit K Doval a day before he was fired by Trump in 2018.
“The day before I was fired, I met for dinner with my Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval, at Quarters 13, Fort McNair, a quiet place at the intersection of the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, just south of the US Capitol.
Doval is a character straight out of central casting. Betraying his background as the former director of his country’s Intelligence Bureau, he would lean into conversations, cock his head to the side as he spoke, and use hushed tones, even when discussing the most routine subjects,” McMaster writes.
“During our walk after dinner, he whispered, 'How much longer will we work together?' It did not take someone with Doval’s intelligence background to figure out I was departing the Trump administration. Without answering directly, I told him it had been a privilege and expressed confidence that there would be continuity,” the 62-year-old retired general says.
McMaster writes they knew each other well enough for Doval, 79, to be direct.
“What happens in Afghanistan after you leave?” Doval asked him, to which McMaster reminded the Indian NSA that Trump had approved the South Asia strategy last August and that it was the first reasoned and sustainable strategy in 17 years of war.
"Doval knew this, but sometimes you cannot be fully candid with even your closest foreign counterparts. In fact, I shared Doval’s concern, and I knew that my response was less than convincing. Trump was unconventional and impulsive. Sometimes his impulses were good. Other times, to use one of his turns of phrase, 'not so much',” he writes.
McMaster in his book gives a detailed account of his trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India from April 14–17, 2017, during which he met then-Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, Doval and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
The conversation was easy, as Doval, Jaishankar, "and I believed we had a tremendous opportunity to work together in pursuit of our mutual objectives”, McMaster writes about his meeting at the Janpath residence of Doval.
Jaishankar then was the Foreign Secretary and the late Sushma Swaraj was the External Affairs Minister.
“We spoke about the war in Afghanistan and the threat to India from nuclear-armed Pakistan, but Jaishankar and Doval spoke mainly about an increasingly aggressive China, McMaster writes.
"The two men were open to unprecedented cooperation thanks to (Chinese President) Xi Jinping’s aggression," he said, apparently referring to the military standoff between India and China in Doklam in 2017.
"The deepening partnership between the world’s largest and the world’s oldest democracies seemed logical, but India is fearful both of entrapment into competitions from which it would prefer to abstain and abandonment based on the short American attention span and ambivalence over South Asia," McMaster writes.
“Those 'schizophrenic' anxieties and the legacy of India’s leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War had led to hedging behaviour, especially with Russia, an important source of arms and oil for India,” he states.
On the final day of his trip, McMaster met Modi at his residence.
“Modi gave us a warm welcome. It was clear that deepening and expanding our relationship was a top priority for him. He expressed concern over China’s increasingly aggressive efforts to extend its influence at India’s expense and over its growing military presence in the region,” the former NSA writes.
Modi, McMaster says, suggested that the US, India, Japan, and like-minded partners emphasise the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific as an inclusive effort to benefit all, in contrast to China’s 'One Belt One Road' initiative.
At the end of the meeting, he says, the prime minister gave him a hug, put his hands on his shoulders, and blessed him. “You have an aura around you, and you will do good for humanity,” Modi told him.
A few months later Trump hosted Modi for a meeting at the White House on June 25-26, 2017.
“We huddled in the Oval Office for a few moments between the meeting with Modi’s delegation in the Cabinet Room and the statements and question-and-answer session in the Rose Garden. I warned Trump that the prime minister was a hugger and, based on how well the visit was going, would probably hug Trump after their statements,” McMaster writes.
“Although Trump was known to hug the occasional American flag onstage, he was not a big hugger of people. The hug was delivered and reciprocated in a way that was not too awkward. Success. Modi departed on June 27, just two days before Moon’s arrival,” he says.
Modi was the first head of state the president and First Lady hosted for dinner in the Blue Room, he noted.
McMaster’s book, which focuses on Trump’s tenure as commander-in-chief, comes at a time when many Americans start to consider whether Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic Party rival in the November 5 election, would make a better commander-in-chief.
In addition to being a highly decorated officer, McMaster also has a doctorate in history. His first book is titled, “Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam.”
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Source: The Week from PTI
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)