The arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York, on December 12, for underpaying her former house maid and visa fraud may have overshadowed the longest-standing visa dispute between the United States and India. But in the wake of the current controversy, the Narendra Modi visa issue assumes even more significance. In fact, ever since the Gujarat chief minister was elevated by the Bharatiya Janata Party as its virtual "shadow Prime Minister" back in September, India watchers in the … [Read more...]

WASHINGTON, DC: The American political system and the electorate are famously known for punishing candidates and parties that toy with country's larger interests. Everyone involved with the two-week long US government shutdown was aware of that, which is why the House Republicans blinked first, avoiding a calamitous default whose ripples would have been felt globally. Nonetheless, before finally giving up at the 11th hour, they tested the nerve of the nation and the patience of the investors. … [Read more...]

What a difference four years can make! When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the US  capital in 2009, he had received a rock star reception. As the first head of state to be invited for a White House dinner by President Obama, the visit was a real Washington event. The who's who of Indian Americans flew into the city for the dinner and the three days he spent in this city were a celebration of India-US ties, whose heady days—the signing of the civil nuclear deal— were still in the rearview … [Read more...]

PM Manmohan Singh, who, later this month, is scheduled to make what may be his final official visit to Washington, is one of the architects of the much-trumpeted India-US civil nuclear deal, signed in October 2008. But Singh's greatest contribution to the India-US relationship might not be the nuclear deal that his government painstakingly negotiated with the administration of President George W Bush. In fact, his greatest legacy in bilateral relations may be the education initiative he … [Read more...]

When the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy, with more than $18 billion owed to over 100,000 creditors, the reactions across the US ranged from sadness and dismay to shock. Until now bankruptcy was reserved for lesser known municipal areas like San Bernardino, California, Jefferson County, Alabama, and Central Falls, Rhode Island —not Detroit, the once proud city that is forever associated with America's automobile industry and popular music. Yet, the bankruptcy filing should not have … [Read more...]

Unless the conservative wing within the House Republican Party succeeds in scuttling it, President Barack Obama is likely to sign a comprehensive new immigration law this summer, the first signature legislation of his second term. The legislation, the second major immigration law in 27 years, will have a far-reaching impact. The potential legalisation of more than 11 million illegal immigrants would, no doubt, raise the living standard of those people and also boost the American … [Read more...]

Chief Ministers woo foreign investors to their states. The interest is mutual Sixteen months ago, when Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his Maryland counterpart Martin O’Malley visited India on near-simultaneous trade missions, it was a showcase of American federalism at its best. Governors, as chief executives, are largely responsible for running their states economies in the US. Because of the highly decentralized nature of the US system, state leaders like McDonnell and O’Malley have a … [Read more...]

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is the only Indian who has a statue erected in his honour in Washington, a town of splendid memorials. While the Mahatma is a constant spiritual presence in the US capital — there is also a Gandhi Memorial Center— fiscally, it is the footprints of another Gujarati and Gandhi that is everywhere in the city: of the retiring District of Columbia chief financial officer (CFO) Natwar Gandhi. During Nat Gandhi’s 12-year tenure as the independent CFO, the city made an epic … [Read more...]