Strong ties with India essential for US goals, says top admiral

October 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor Sunday embarked on a three-day visit to Myanmar in a bid to give fresh impetus to direct military-to-military ties with the eastern neighbour. "The army chief is on a three-day visit to Myanmar.

October 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor will Sunday begin a three-day visit to Myanmar to nurture direct military-to-military ties with the neighbour on the eastern flank. The Army chief will be on a three-day visit to Myanmar.

September 30th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia's MiG aircraft maker said it has successfully tested four MiG-29 jets due to be delivered to India. "During the tests Sep 28-29, the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB fighters conducted several take offs and landings on the deck of the (Admiral Kuznetsov) aircraft carrier in the Barents Sea," the company said Tuesday.

September 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - US Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer Thursday condoled the death of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S.

September 3rd, 2009 MOSCOW - President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has expressed a desire to enhance bilateral trade ties with Russia. While addressing a gathering of expatriate Indians and some prominent Russians during the course of her five-day visit, Patil said, the only area where India-Russia relationship is lagging is in the field of bilateral economic cooperation.

July 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Expressing concerns over the expanding terror threat, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen has said Al-Qaeda is trying to get hold of nuclear weapons to wreak havoc across the world particularly in America. Speaking at the Junior Statesman Summer School Programme, Admiral Mullen said the leadership of both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban is desperately trying to acquire nukes to target Western countries.

July 14th, 2009 PARIS - India and France on Tuesday reiterated their commitment to strengthen cooperation on countering the menace of terrorism. A statement released after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's working lunch with French President Nicholas Sarkozy said that there was a "strong convergence of interest on the threats posed by terrorism and measures to counter it." Both leaders also expressed their satisfaction over the implementation and cooperation between the two countries in the fields of civil nuclear energy,space and defence.

July 2nd, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today said that modernisation of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier should be completed as soon as possible so that it can be delivered to India in 2012, as the project had become the sole irritant in Russian-Indian relations. "This is the first, very difficult experience.

May 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that Iran is on track for building a nuclear weapon by 2011. "Certainly from what I've seen over the years, Iran is on a path to develop a nuclear weapon," Mullen said on ABC's "This Week." He added that: "Most of us believe that it's one to three years depending on assumptions on where they are right now.

May 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has said that Pakistan is guarding its nuclear establishments tightly and has taken several security measures for its safety. Addressing a Congressional hearing here, Admiral Mullen assured the Senators that Pakistan's nuclear assets were in safe custody.

May 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US-India Business Council (USIBC) has named 10 business leaders with vast experience of success in India and throughout the world as new members of its board of directors. The new batch of directors is an illustrious group with each new member bringing to the 'USIBC board a unique and focused vision for advancing US-India commercial ties', the trade association seeking deeper trade and commercial ties with India said Thursday.

April 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Expressing serious concern over reports that the Taliban is inching closer towards Islamabad, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said Pakistan could be taken over by insurgents. "We're certainly moving closer to the tipping point where Pakistan could be overtaken by extremists," The Nation quoted Admiral Mullen, as saying.

April 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the US relationship with New Delhi is 'essential' as it builds constructive ties with India, China and Russia, major nations that would have a lot to say in an emerging world. The US is advancing its relationship with India as part of a wide-ranging diplomatic agenda to meet today's daunting challenges topped by the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan,' she said in an appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday.

April 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States has announced a three fold increase in civilian aid to Pakistan, and is also planning to spend another three billion dollars over the next five years to equip and train the Pakistan Army against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, but the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has made it clear that there is an urgent need to maintain a check on the aid to ensure its proper and correct use. "There hasn't been an audit trail, and there hasn't been accountability measures put in place, and there needs to be for all the funds," Admiral Mullen told The New York Times.

March 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Terming the relation between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Afghan extremists as "an existential threat", the United States has asked Pakistan to cut off all its ties with outlawed groups based in Afghanistan. "What we need to do is try and help the Pakistanis understand these groups are now an existential threat to them," US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said.