History will judge former Prime Minister kindly: Omar Abdullah

"Obama - 'Millions have been lifted out of poverty in recent years'. Dr Manmohan Singh is right - history will judge him more kindly," Omar wrote on microblogging site twitter.com soon after US President's address at the Siri Fort Auditorium in the Union capital.

When India and the United States agreed upon operationalising the nuke deal, Omar, whose National
Conference was part of the UPA-II led by Singh, had said "I wonder if Dr Manmohan Singh is sitting back feeling vindicated today or watching the proceedings disappointed about what could have been!".

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India-US relationship based on mutual respect: Barack Obama

"On the most basic level, a good India-US relationship has to be based on the same principles as our successful partnerships with our other close partners and friends around the world," Obama said to a magazine.

"That includes mutual respect, where even as we acknowledge our different histories and traditions, we value the strengths that we each bring to our relationship," he said.

He said, "It includes recognizing our mutual interests that both our countries will be more secure, and our people will have more jobs and opportunities, when we are working together."

The US President said while it was true that progress has not always come as fast as both sides would have liked, "We have succeeded in deepening the US-India relationship across the board".

"In the last few years, we have increased trade between our two countries by about 60 percent, creating more jobs for Indians and Americans," said, adding, “the militaries of the two countries are conducting more exercises together," he said.

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Rajnath Singh reviews security situation ahead of Obama visit

The inter-ministerial meeting took stock of the prevailing security situation in the country ahead of Obama's visit to India to attend the Republic Day parade as chief guest.

"We discussed the country's security situation," Army Chief Dalbir Singh    Suhag told reporters without elaborating.

Those who attended the meeting included Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, the Army Chief and chiefs of intelligence agencies.

Official sources said the meeting reviewed the situation in India's neighbourhood, the recent violence in Assam perpetrated by NDFB and the blast outside a restaurant in  Bangalore on Sunday.

India has already approached Bhutan and Myanmar to flush out Indian insurgent groups taking shelter in their territories.

Source: Hindi News and Newspaper

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House of Representatives nears passage of USD 585 billion defence bill

The sweeping legislation authorizes spending for the nation's defense, from construction of ships, planes and war-fighting equipment to a 1 percent pay raise for the troops, while maintaining the prohibition on transferring terror suspects from the federal prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States.

The House is expected to vote today and send the measure to the Senate, where Republicans are divided over the inclusion of unrelated provisions expanding wilderness areas in the West.

Proponents of the measure hope to finish the bill next week and send it to Obama for his signature.

In one of the rare instances of bipartisanship, Congress has passed the defense policy bill for 52 consecutive years.

The overall legislation endorses Obama's latest request to Congress in the 4-month-old war against Islamic State militants who brutally rule large sections of Iraq and Syria.

Obama sought billions for the stepped-up operation and the dispatch of up to 1,500 more American troops; the bill provides USD 5 billion.

The administration also pressed for reauthorization of its plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels battling the forces of President Bashar Assad, with that mandate expiring December 11. The legislation would extend that authority for two years.

Some in Congress have pressed for a new vote for authorising the use of military force to no avail. Democratic Rep Chris Van Hollen warned that US "not get dragged into Iraq war 2.0."

The bill would provide the core funding of USD 521.3 billion for the military and USD 63.7 billion for overseas operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, where fighting has lasted more than a decade.

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