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Manmohan to meet Obama On April 2
Notes From Pakistan
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IPL prime target of terror attack: US think tank
US puts bounty on militants
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Manmohan to meet Obama On April 2
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be part of an exclusive group of world leaders that will hold bilateral meetings with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting in London next month. The meeting between Manmohan Singh and Obama will take place on April 2. The meeting will allay concerns among some in New Delhi who feel neglected by the new administration in Washington. A source, speaking on background, said Manmohan Singh is extremely keen to meet Obama. The only constraint was whether the PM, who recently underwent cardiac surgery, would be given clearance by his doctors to travel to London. "He is extremely determined to make sure this meeting takes place," the source said. Obama will also meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whom he hosted at the White House recently, Queen Elizabeth II, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Meanwhile, a senior State Department official who played a key role in keeping up the momentum in USA-India relations in George W. Bush's administration is expected to leave office soon. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher is likely to be replaced by Robert Blake, who is currently serving as the US ambassador in Colombo. The Bureau of South Asian Affairs was expanded to include Central Asia shortly before Boucher's confirmation as assistant secretary in 2006. He has served as the State Department’s spokesman or deputy spokesman under six Secretaries of State and has served as Chief of Mission twice overseas. In June of 2008, he was conferred the personal rank of Career Ambassador, the highest achievement for a member of the Foreign Service. Sources say the Obama administration may not be keen to pull Blake, a career foreign service officer, out of Colombo in a rush given the fragile situation on the island where government forces have cornered Tamil Tiger rebels. Also, a decision to send Peter Burleigh as charge d'affaires in New Delhi is seen as a sign that it could be a while before the Obama administration gets around to nominating a full-time ambassador. The nominee must then be confirmed by the Senate. Obama has struggled to fill positions in his administration. Some senior picks have been disqualified after it was found they failed to meet the new standards set by the president.
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Notes From Pakistan President Asif Ali Zarfdari flew into Quetta from Dubai on Thursday afternoon on a two-day trip to Pakistan’s troubled province Balochistan. Zardari was received at the airport by Governor Magsi, Chief Minister Raisani, cabinet ministers and others amid tight security. Soon after arrival, he had a long session with the Governor and the Chief Minister to discuss political, economic and security problems facing the province. This is President’s first official visit to the province. He received a lot of flak for ignoring it during a severe earthquake last December. President Zardari made a promising beginning soon after general elections early last year by pledging a reconciliation approach towards Baloch nationalists elements many of whom have taken up arms and conducted a low-key insurgency. He also facilitate release of some key Baloch nationalists, including former Chief Minister Akhtar Mengal. The initiative, however, lost direction because of hurdles put up mainly by the army. Pak to seek $10-bn aid from donor nations
Pakistan will seek $10 billion from the friends of Pakistan forum to cover costs related to improving security and to combat poverty, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tareen has said. A formal request for the amount will be presented at a meeting of donors’ representatives in Tokyo on April 17. President Asif Zardari is likely to attend the conference. The request is in addition to the $7.6 billion pledged by the International Monetary Fund and the bilateral aid pledged by various donors. Western diplomats say the United States and Britain are expected to be represented in Tokyo. “With dampened external demand for its exports, an inflated import bill and low investor confidence, Pakistan needs additional assistance from the international community to restore economic stability and bring its economy back to a higher growth path,” said the World Bank, which is co-hosting the forum. Shaukat Tareen said, “The world ought to look at things like high-poverty levels and security needs. We need to raise special forces and acquire special skills at a considerable expense to fight the terrorism challenge. Our security expenses have grown sharply at the expense of cuts in education and public health.”
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IPL prime target of terror attack: US think tank
Washington, March 26 Games being played in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were more on the terrorist hit list, it said. "The Indian intelligence apparatus is thought to have warned the central government of a flood of specific threats against both Indian and foreign cricket players," said private intelligence Stratfor. Based on the intelligence information it has from various sources, Stratfor in its latest analysis said it received indications early on from Indian security sources that the IPL tournament was a prime target for another large-scale Islamist militant operation following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. "Warnings of specific threats against the players came from the governments of the states hosting matches, including Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. "Given that these two states respectively are home to the information technology hubs of Hyderabad and Bangalore - both of which have a heavy foreign presence - and are where multinational corporations doing business in India are concentrated, these states are at a particularly high risk of attack," it said. — PTI
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