Weep, Mother India! Weep!

Weep, Mother India! Weep!

Blackest Day For Independent India, Indo- US Deal declared
The post Cold War aggressiveness of American and British foreign policy now makes India a Real Colony

indian Holocaust My father`s Life and Time - Twenty Eight

Palash Biswas

Deal silent on N-test; Govt says nation?s interests not mortgaged

The agreement to operationalise the Indo-US civil nuclear deal is silent on any repercussions on New Delhi conducting an atomic test even as the government today made it clear that the country`s interests have not been mortgaged and the strategic programme remains unaffected.
http://zeenews.com/index.asp

The post Cold War aggressiveness of American and British foreign policy affecting Iraq, North Korea, and the southern former states of the Soviet Union has step-by-step unsettled Moscow. The straw that broke the camel’s back is undoubtedly the US decision to build a new radar facility on Polish and Czech soil, that although directed at putative Iranian rockets could easily be upgraded to be aimed at Russian ones. But it began with President Bill Clinton’s decision to expand Nato right up to the frontiers of the old Soviet Union.
Dangers of return of the Cold War
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=4&theme=&usrsess=1&id=164042

It is the Blackest Day for Independent India but has to be written in Golden letters in the history of Shinging Sensex India ruled by Brahminical comradors as they have been successful to make India a real Zionist Hindu Colony of US Post Modern Manusmriti Galaxy Order at last! The enslaved Indian People have no courage to face the US strike power omnipresnt with collabration of the colonial Indian statepower. Pakistan is feeling the heat and fire! We may not feel. Bangla nationality in Dhaka has also welcomed US supremacy there. This Indian subcontinent is a free military zone since today.

A suicide bomber killed at least 11 people and injured about 45 others on Friday at a hotel near Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, officials said, just hours after riot police clashed with hundreds of religious students at the newly reopened mosque. We don`t see any Red Alert whatever happen around! We have not learn anything from Iraq and Afgan experiences. Our memry does not have any archive on Vietnam, Latin america, Korea. We have forgotten all japanese crimes. Even we forgot the War of 1962 and now we do gang up agianst China with strategic grouping with US, Australia and japan!

This is Indian foreign Policy. This is nonsense Sensense! This diplomacy!

Weep, Mother India! Weep!

What a Farce!
India and United States today officially announced that they had completed negotiations on the bilateral text on civil nuclear co-operation, but opposition parties said doubts remained on the extent to which Indian strategic autonomy had been curtailed …

The United States and India have completed an agreement to share civilian nuclear fuel and technology, it was announced Friday, in a deal that would reverse three decades of American anti-proliferation policy if approved.While a step forward on what would be a major shift in U.S. policy, the accord must still clear several more steps, including international and U.S. congressional approval, before nuclear trade could begin.

In a single-page joint statement, the countries provided no specific details, but hailed their work as a "historic milestone." The United States has portrayed the agreement as deepening ties with a democratic Asian power.Critics say the measure damages international nonproliferation efforts and could boost India’s nuclear bomb stockpile by freeing up its domestic uranium for weapons. That, they fear, could spark a nuclear arms race in Asia.

Friday’s announcement came after more than a year of detailed, often frustrating technical talks.

Whatever demon may be Bush or any American President he may not dare to go against US interests. Our so called National leadership along with so much hyped democratic institution and FDI fed gift sponsorship monger media damn care Indian National interests and the enslaved population. They have made a woman first citizen! They will have a Muslim as vice President and reservation and quota are enough to satisfy the bargaining previleged enslaved Cream! This casteology and absolute communalism happens to be the spirit of Indian nationality mortgaged in the Swiss bank accounts! Bush may have the Veto Power but he has to care for the Parliamentary debate and popularity graph. Our leaders have every avenue to bypass the Parliament and Judiciary! US citizens may boast of democratic transparency and civil as well as human rights. But we Indian citizens are identityless orphans roaming around and stripped of everything including life , liberty and livelihood.

Minimum empowerment of individual citizen is absent till this date to defend citizenship. Thus, they sale out our freedom and sovereignity so smoothly and we fools sing Vande mataram! Mera Bharat Mahan!

The Centre on Friday tried to hardsell the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement to the political setup in particular and the nation as a whole, saying it will open the way for bilateral cooperation between India and US.

Briefing journalists on the nuclear deal, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan, however, admitted that the "deal is not the best, but is a very good one." In the same breath, he claimed that "India has retained its right to test."

The government fielded the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Anil Kakodkar; Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and National Security Adviser MK Narayanan at a briefing on the nuclear deal.

Narayanan said the Indo-US bilateral agreement on nuclear deal fulfills the terms outlined by Prime Minister in Parliament on August 17.He said there was no reference in the agreement to the nuclear tests carried out by India in 1998. "It refers to only civil nuclear cooperation."

Asked what he felt were the shortcomings of the agreement, Narayanan said India would have liked to get reprocessing and enrichment technologies.

The Left allies and opposition NDA is "satisfied" with the civil nuclear deal concluded with the US, the government maintained today.

"We have already met the Left and the members of the NDA. I think we have explained to them in great detail as to what it is," National Security Adviser M K Narayanan said when asked about the response of the two political alliances to the deal in the backdrop of their stated apprehensions.

"The impression that we have got from the discussions is that they were particularly satisfied," claimed Narayanan who briefed the Left and opposition leaders when they met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here over the last two days.

To press the argument in this regard, he said Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar did most of the talking with the leaders of Left and NDA which carries "a lot of credibility and which will be carried across the board."

"If nuclear community is on board, I think, that would make everybody happy," Narayanan said.

Narayanan was addressing the joint press conference along with Kakodkar and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on the 123 agreement reached with the US last week.

Kakodkar, who had earlier voiced doubts over certain elements of the deal particularly the reprocessing right, expressed happiness over the final text of the agreement.

He said the final agreement reflects the understanding between the two countries reached on July 18, 2005 and March 2,2006.

The Australian government has dropped charges against an Indian doctor arrested over foiled bomb plots in the UK over a lack of evidence.Meanwhile,
Hundreds of religious students clashed with police and occupied Islamabad’s Red Mosque during its reopening Friday, demanding the return of a pro-Taliban cleric two weeks after an army raid to oust Islamic militants …On Friday, TADA court Judge Pramod D Kode said he would sentence Dutt on Tuesday, July 31. Last November the star was found guilty of possessing arms in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.The Home Ministry is reportedly upset with super cop Kiran Bedi for her open tirade against the government. Sources in the Home Ministry have claimed that her comments violate service conduct rules.

Three years after President Bush urged global rules to stop additional nations from making nuclear fuel, the White House will announce today that it is carving out an exception for India, in a last-ditch effort to seal a civilian nuclear deal between the countries.In general, advocates of a far-stronger relationship between India and the United States have favored the nuclear cooperation deal, and it passed through Congress fairly easily. But those arguing that the administration has not made good on its promises to clamp down on the trade in nuclear fuel argue that Mr. Bush could be setting a precedent that will undercut his nonproliferation initiative.
Australia has said it would consider supplying uranium to India despite the country not being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, provided it agreed to inspections by the UN atomic watchdog.

The proposal, which has been strongly backed by Prime Minister John Howard, has put the Opposition leader Kevin Rudd at the loggerheads with the labor government, which had earlier argued that selling uranium to India would undermine the NPT.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia would consider supplying uranium to India even if it did not sign the NPT, provided it agreed to inspections by International Atomic Energy Agency.

Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane, meanwhile, said the government will seek further legal advice on whether it has the constitutional powers to override the states’ bans on uranium mines in western Australia and Queensland, ‘The Age’ reported today.

Downer said that while he would prefer the countries signed the International Non-Proliferation Treaty, "you have to face up to the facts".

He said India had no record of exporting nuclear weapons technology to other countries and the export of uranium would help curb greenhouse emissions on the sub-continent.

"India is the second biggest country in the world in population terms," Downer said, adding "Its economy is growing at nearly 9 per cent a year. It’s going to be a massive consumer of energy and we want to deal with the issue of climate change."

Downer said any uranium exported to India could be used only in civil nuclear facilities and Australia would never sell yellow cake for nuclear weapons or nuclear-powered military vessels.

Just two months ago, Macfarlane had vowed Australia would not sell uranium to India unless it signed the NPT.

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Robert McClelland said that the Federal Government’s "unrestrained promotion of nuclear power was a cause for great concern."

"Instead of - seeking approval for the export of Australian uranium to India, the Foreign Minister should - join labor in campaigning for wide-ranging reform of the non-proliferation treaty to encourage India to join," McClelland said.

US lawmakers have warned Bush administration of “inconsistencies” in the 123 agreement after reports that Washington has agreed to allow India to reprocess spent nuclear fuel under the civilian nuclear deal with New Delhi.
The warning came after the agreement between the USA and India was finalised in extended talks in Washington last week.
In a letter to President George W Bush, as many as 23 Congressmen-led by Democratic lawmaker Mr Edward Markey expressed their concern that perhaps Washington may have “capitulated” to India’s demands on the agreement.
The Congress passed the Hyde Act less than a year ago, settling minimum conditions that must be met for nuclear cooperation with India, as well as the non-negotiable restrictions on such cooperation, Mr Markey said.
Stating that these conditions and restrictions were not optional or advisory, Mr Markey warned “If the 123 agreement has been intentionally negotiated to sidestep or bypass the law and the will of Congress, final approval for this deal will be jeopardised.” In the letter, the lawmakers stressed “the necessity of abiding by the legal boundaries set by Congress” for nuclear cooperation.
“The Agreement for Nuclear Cooperation is subject to the approval of Congress, and any inconsistencies between the Agreement and the relevant US laws will call congressional approval deeply into doubt,” lawmakers told the White House.

The scheduled announcement, described yesterday by senior American officials, ends more than a year of negotiations intended to keep an unusual arrangement between the countries from being defeated in New Delhi.Until the overall deal was approved by Congress last year, the United States was prohibited from selling civilian nuclear technology to India because it has refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.The legislation passed by Congress required the United States to cut off the supply of nuclear fuel to India.

India’s Parliament balked at the deal, with politicians there complaining that the restriction infringed on India’s sovereignty because it cut off nuclear assistance to India if it tested a nuclear weapon, and because it prohibited India from using American fuel to help bolster its weapons arsenal.
Under the arrangement that is to be announced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Bush has agreed to go beyond the terms of the deal that Congress approved, promising to help India build a nuclear fuel repository and find alternative sources of nuclear fuel in the event of an American cutoff, skirting some of the provisions of the law.

In February 2004, President Bush, in a major speech outlining new nuclear policies to prevent proliferation, declared that “enrichment and reprocessing are not necessary for nations seeking to harness nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.” He won the cooperation of allies for a temporary suspension of new facilities to make fuel, but allies that include Canada and Australia have also expressed interest in uranium enrichment.

The problem is a delicate one for the administration, because this month American officials are working at the United Nations Security Council to win approval of harsher economic sanctions against Iran for trying to enrich uranium. India is already a nuclear weapons state and has refused to sign the treaty; Iran, a signer of the treaty, does not yet have nuclear weapons.

But in an interview Thursday, R. Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, who negotiated the deal, said, “Iran in no way, shape or form would merit similar treatment because Iran is a nuclear outlaw state.”

He noted that Iran hid its nuclear activities for many years from international inspectors, and that it still had not answered most of their questions about evidence that could suggest it was seeking weapons.

Because India never signed the treaty, it too was considered a nuclear outlaw for decades. But Mr. Bush, eager to place relations with India on a new footing, waived many of the restrictions in order to sign the initial deal. It was heavily supported by Indian-Americans and American nuclear equipment companies, which see a huge potential market for their reactors and expertise.

Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who opposed the initial deal and said he would try to defeat the new arrangement, said Thursday, “If you make an exception for India, we will be preaching from a barstool to the rest of the world.”

Though India would be prohibited from using the fuel it purchases from the United States for nuclear weapons, the ability to reprocess the fuel means India’s other supplies would be freed up to expand its arsenal.

“It creates a double standard,” Mr. Markey said. “One set of rules for countries we like, another for countries we don’t.”

Robert J. Einhorn, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that in “the first phase of negotiations with India, the administration made concessions that put the country on par with countries that have signed” the Nonproliferation Treaty. (Israel and Pakistan are the only other countries that have refused to sign it, and North Korea quit the treaty four years ago.)

“Now we’ve gone beyond that, and given India something that we don’t give to Russia and China.”

Mr. Burns said he disagreed because “this agreement is so very much in our national interest.”

“It will further our nonproliferation efforts globally” by gradually bringing India into the nuclear fold, he said.

Peace process in Nandigram to begin today: Basu

Kolkata: The West Bengal government has decided to begin today the peace process in Nandigram, where 14 people were killed in violence four and half months back, veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu said.

"The Chief Minister (Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee) has said that the peace process in Nandigram is beginning today," Basu said after the weekly CPI(M) state secretariat meeting here where Bhattacharjee was also present.

The government was forced to shelve the chemical hub SEZ in Nandigram following stiff protests by villagers led by Trinamool Congress and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind under the umbrella of Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee.

However, the area continued to be on boil prompting the Chief Minister to appeal to the opposition for talks on restoring peace in Nandigram.

Bhattacharjee has also written to the Opposition parties on the chemical hub, which is now proposed to be set up in Haldia, as also the acquisition of agricultural land for industries.

However, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has rejected the Chief Minister’s overtures, saying their agitation would continue till the perpetrators of the March 14 ‘genocide’ in Nandigram were brought to book.

Basu, however, said that the government was not thinking of holding an all party meeting to arrive at a consensus on the proposed chemical hub in Haldia.

"We are not thinking about it. We are thinking about Nandigram. An area cannot remain a free zone for long," said Basu, a former West Bengal Chief Minister.

While slamming the opposition for forming an ‘opportunistic alliance’ in the recent Haldia civic polls, Basu said the Trinamool Congress was bereft of any principles and programmes.

The Trinamool Congress-led grand alliance, which included the Congress and the Jamiat’s political arm People’s Democratic Conference, got seven seats in the Haldia municipal polls, as the Left Front retained the civic board retaining 19 of the 26 wards. While the TC got six, PDCI claimed one seat.

The Opposition had drawn a blank in the previous elections of the Haldia municipality in 2002.

"We were confident of winning the Haldia civic poll. But since the municipality is adjacent to Nandigram, we thought the opposition would get some seats," Basu said.

"That way the victory is significant because despite the municipality being close to Nandigram, the opposition could not make inroads. The Trinamool, Congress and BJP had formed an opportunistic alliance," the nonagenarian leader said.

Asked about the Trinamool rejecting the Chief Minister’s offer for talks, Basu said "They (Trinamool Congress) do not have any principles and programmes. Still they have got votes.

We have to go to those people who have voted for them".

Stiff opposition to Tata`s titanium-di-oxide project in TN

Chennai: After having a rough ride on its Singur small car project in West Bengal, the Tata Group is now facing stiff opposition in Tamil Nadu to the Rs 2,500-crore titanium-di-oxide project proposed to be set up in southern districts of Tirunelveli and Tuticorin.

Expressing apprehension that the corporate giant’s venture would displace them from their native land and deprive them of their livelihood, local villagers, mostly belonging to the dominant Nadar community in the south, have resolved to oppose the project tooth and nail.

The issue is set to snowball into a major controversy, similar to the Nandigram row, with some political parties, apparently eyeing the Nadar votebank, also "taking up the cause."

PMK founder S Ramadoss, a ruling DMK ally who is trying to get a foothold in south Tamil Nadu, has also reportedly expressed support to the agitating groups.

A Viyanarasu, who has formed a struggle committee called Federation for Tamil Land Protection, told a news agency that about 40,000 families would be displaced as the Tata company is planning to set up the plant on 12,000 acres of land.

"The government is talking about employment and economic growth. But take the cases of Koodangulam nuclear plant and Neyveli Lignite Corporation. Jobs and rehabilitation were promised when those projects were implemented but most of the displaced families were left in the lurch. What is the guarantee that a private company will honour its word,?" he asked.

Though Tata Steel originally inked a pact with the previous AIADMK government in 2002, the project did not take off due to undisclosed reasons.


Buoyant global economic outlook has prompted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revise upward India`s Gross Domestic Production (GDP) growth rate by 0.6 per cent to 9 per cent for 2007. Major upward revision has been made for emerging markets with growth projection for China, India and Russia being raised substantially, IMF said in its update on the World Economic Outlook (WEO) on Wednesday. IMF had revised India`s GDP forecast to 9 per cent over the projection made in April this year. The WEO update has also revised the growth forecast for 2008 by 0.6 per cent to 8.4 per cent.

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, headed by former Reserve Bank Governor C Rangarajan, had on July 16 pegged the country`s economic growth rate at 9 per cent in 2007-08.

The RBI, however, in its annual policy statement had projected a growth rate of 8.5 per cent.

India has recorded a GDP growth rate of 9.4 per cent during 2006-07.

IMF has also revised the forecast for world economic growth to 5.2 per cent, up by 0.3 per cent from the projection made in April.

The growth rate for china, however, has been revised by 1.2 per cent to 11.2 per cent and for Russia by 0.6 per cent to 7 per cent.

Vyapar Rojgar Bachao Andolan, a consortium of traders, hawkers, farmers, trade unions, cooperatives and consumer organisations, will organise country-wide protests to oppose the entry of big corporate houses and global retailers into the Indian retail sector.

"The entry of big corporate and retail giants had put the livelihood of more than 40 million people at risk," India FDI Watch Director Dharmendra Kumar told reporters here.

The consortium, in association with the other similar organisation, is going to observe August 1-8 as the awareness week and would held demonstrations, dharnas and protest march in all district headquarters on August 8. It will hold a protest march and rallies on August 9 in all metro cities.

"On August 9, which is also the 65th anniversary of the Quit India Movement, we along with other trade unions would organise huge protests in all metropolitan cities," he said.

It will also submit a memorandum to chief ministers of various states and to the prime minister.

It also plans to present a charter of demands to the prime minister, demanding strict law to ban all corporations in retail, formulation of national policy on retail trade and small manufacturing industries, implement the national policy on urban street vendors, and the repeal of APMC model act.

The consortium also claimed that it has the support of large number of trade organisations and labour unions across the country.
Secy: Posco will stay even if it misses out on Khandadhar
NEW DELHI: A NEW twist to the country’s biggest FDI project, Orissa state government has said that Pohang Steel Company will stay in the state even if it does not get the Khandadhar mines. State officials, however, indicated that the chances of that happening were rare.

Mittal to build steel plants in both Jharkhand, Orissa
Indian Express

News Today

“It is not necessary that every company should have its own captive mines. Posco has plants across the world and nowhere does it have captive mines,” said Orissa government Industries Department commissioner cum secretary Ashok Dalwai. “Posco never came to Orissa just for iron ore but for a host of other reasons.”

While the Korean steel giant refused to give a straight answer on this, according to the MoU signed between the government and the company in June 2005, the state government had agreed to grant prospecting licences and captive mining leases for 600 million tonnes to Posco.

For the first phase of the project, the government had recommended Khandadhar mines in Keonjhar district which reportedly have reserves of 200 million tonnes. The centre, however, had returned the application citing need for giving a hearing to other applicants.

Almost 251 applications have been received for the mines and 45 have already been rejected.

“We don’t expect a situation where we will not get the mines,” said a senior Posco official. “Principally, it has already been decided to give the mine to Posco. It is just a matter of completing the procedures and hearing the other applicants out. We expect to get the lease in the next two months.”

Meanwhile, the state government has denied that the mine is owned by Kudremukh Iron Ore Company and said that it was a virgin mine. Khandadhar would provide ore for Posco’s first phase of production of 4 million tonnes by 2010.

To sort out the issue of land acquisition, Posco has roped in the Xavier Institute of Management to prepare a master plan for relief and rehabilitation. “Private land acquisition has not been a problem and it is part of the government land that has been encroached upon. Once the master plan is ready, displacement will begin,” Dalwai said.

Out of the 4,004 acres earmarked for the company in Jagatsinghpur area, 3,566 acres belongs to the government while the remaining 436 acres is private land. “We are trying to work out some kind of a settlement with the people who would be displaced. We will follow the norms that are laid down in the relief and rehabilitation policy of the state including planned resettlement of the houses and providing jobs to one member of each family in the company,” the Posco official said.

Almost 3,093 acres of the government land is classified as forest land and would require compulsory forestation for the same area in some other part of the state. The company is meeting the Forest Advisory Committee next month.

Where is nation’s biggest FDI project headed?

• Posco expected to start construction by December 2007. Company hopes to get mining leases and land in the next three months.

• Master plan for relief and rehabilitation of encroachers on government land being prepared by Xavier Institute of Management.

• Encroachers may be offered alternate land or money.

• Hearing of 251 applications on Khandadhar mines in the process; 45 applications already rejected.

• The 12 million tonne plant will come up in three phases of 4 million tonnes each. First phase to be completed by 2010.

ACC extends deadline for Hasina, Zia to submit asset info

Dhaka: The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has extended by seven days the deadline for submitting wealth statement of detained former Bangladesh Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina after her archrival Khaleda Zia of BNP was granted similar extension.

"The former Prime Minister (Hasina) has sent to us a petition through the jail authorities seeking extra time for seven more working days," ACC secretary Mokhlesur Rahman was quoted as saying in media yesterday.

The anti-graft body served notices on the two former Prime Ministers of Bangladesh last week, demanding their wealth statements within seven working days. The two leaders, however, sought an extension of the deadlines.

Zia received the notice at her Dhaka cantonment residence while Hasina got it through jail authorities at her makeshift prison at the Parliament complex.

ACC officials said the leaders were given extra time to furnish their asset information in accordance with the Anti-Corruption Commission rules 2007.

Haneef Released
Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, who has been cleared of charges of supporting a terrorist organisation, has been conditionally freed from custody, requiring him to report to the immigration department by phone everyday and in person every week.

Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said he has made a residential determination, meaning that rather than being detained in immigration custody, Haneef will be released into residential detention.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors withdrew the case against the 27-year-old Haneef, arrested on July 2 and later charged with "recklessly" supporting a terrorist group, at a Brisbane Magistrates` court hearing following a review.

Andrews said while he had not reinstated Haneef`s visa, the Gold Coast-based doctor would not be moved to a detention centre.

The Immigration Minister said he is seeking advice on whether to reverse his decision to revoke Haeef`s visa, but in the meantime he is free to live at home.

"That means that he has to reside at an agreed place, it means he`s free to actually move about in the community," he said.

Under the conditions of his release, Haneef would be required to report to Immigration Department by telephone either every day or every few days, and once a week report in person, Andrews said.

Haneef would be free to move about in the community. "Residential detention means the place in which he is residing is that unit. That means that he has to reside at an agreed place, he`s free to actually move about in the community, but as a matter of legal principle he is still formally… in detention".

Andrews said he would seek further advice from the Commonwealth Solicitor General about whether he would need to reverse his decision to cancel Haneef`s visa.

"My duty is to uphold the Immigration Legislation. I will continue to regard this with the utmost seriousness,` he said.

"This does go to the whole question of national interest and national security," he said.

"The decision I`ve made can be looked at by the Solicitor General", he added.

Andrews said the police investigation would continue. "The DPP made a decision today, the charge was withdrawn. As a matter of prudence, as a matter of caution, I am seeking that advice," he said.

Pranab in Thiphu

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived here on Friday on a three-day official visit during which India and Bhutan are expected to sign an agreement on implementation of a 1095-megawatt hydro-power project.

The minister was received by Bhutanese Information Minister Leki Dorji on his arrival and was given a traditional white scarf.

He flew in by a chartered flight of Druk Air, a royal Bhutanese airline, which landed one hour behind the schedule due to bad whether.

During his visit, the two countries are expected to sign a landmark agreement on implementation of a 1095-megawatt hydro-power project. The run-of-the-river project is estimated to cost around Rs 3,514 crore.

Cooperation in Hydel power sector is one of the key elements in Indo-Bhutanese ties which will get a further boost during Mukherjee`s visit as part of stepped up bilateral exchanges in the recent months.

Burns on Kashmir
Offering to “influence quietly” India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, the USA has noted that there has been “good” progress to resolve their bilateral differences but the two countries need to “go a lot farther” to consummate this process. US undersecretary of state for political affairs Mr Nicholas Burns said there had been progress in bilateral ties.