Preparations are already underway for when Indian Prime Minister Mano-a-mano Singh comes to town next month. Rediff reports:
Co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans — US Representatives Gary Ackerman and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen — have written to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, urging him to convene a joint session of the US Congress (both the Houses of the American parliament) for an address by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Washington July 17 to 19 at President George W Bush’s invitation.
Dr Singh will be on his first official visit to the United States.
It will be the first visit by an Indian prime minister in nearly five years.
Ackerman and Ros-Lehtinen, senior members of the House International Relations Committee, wrote that ‘an official invitation to address a joint session of Congress will send an unequivocal message to the government and people of India that the US stands in full support of their commitment to democracy, peace, and prosperity for all; and it will show the American people the enduring significance of the relationship between our two great nations.’
‘For this reason,’ the lawmakers said, ‘we would encourage a joint session of Congress to allow Prime Minister Singh to share his thoughts directly on India’s role as a regional power, its economic development, its progress toward religious tolerance, and the benefits of increased economic, security, and cultural cooperation between India and the United States.’
USINPAC’s website has more:
Sanjay Puri, Chairman of USINPAC said, “the first State visit to the United States by Prime Minister Singh has already generated excitement among the Indian American grassroots and on Capitol Hill. We are also pleased by the Bipartisan support.”
All out efforts are being made to ensure that Prime Minister Singh’s address to the Joint Session of the United States Congress becomes a reality. In this connection USINPAC is working closely with the House International Relations Committee (HIRC) and has briefed senior members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat.
I know I shouldn’t go where I am about to because it will take away from the topic above but I am a known trouble-maker. The question in my mind is whether or not the good Prime Minister’s awesome daughter will accompany him to the joint session of Congress should he be invited? Will she get an invite from President Bush? From the ACLU’s website as of yesterday:
A federal judge has ordered the Defense Department to turn over dozens of photographs and four movies depicting detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
“These images may be ugly and shocking, but they depict how the torture was more than the actions of a few rogue soldiers,” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. “The American public deserves to know what is being done in our name. Perhaps after these and other photos are forced into the light of day, the government will at long last appoint an outside special counsel to investigate the torture and abuse of detainees.”
“It is indeed ironic that the government invoked the Geneva Conventions as a basis for withholding these photographs,” said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney at the ACLU. “Had the government genuinely adhered to its obligations under these Conventions, it could have prevented the widespread abuse of detainees held in its custody in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay.”
And this from ABCnews:
“They underscore the need for an independent investigation into which government officials were ultimately responsible for the abuse,” she said.