Tag: Report

  • ‘Committee should examine truthfulness of Hindenburg report’, Centre to SC

    ‘Committee should examine truthfulness of Hindenburg report’, Centre to SC

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    New Delhi: The Central government has told the Supreme Court that the “truthfulness” of the allegations levelled by a US short seller against the Adani Group should be examined and a fact-finding exercise is required to be undertaken as a one-time measure and without making it a precedent.

    In a note submitted in the apex court, the Central government supported the formation of a committee to probe the allegations made in the Hindenburg report.

    The government said in view of the unprecedented financial loss suffered by the investors and in view of the complexities involved in the subject which requires urgent consideration, a fact-finding exercise requires to be undertaken as a one-time measure and a committee can be constituted with a former judge of the Supreme Court as its head.

    The Centre proposed the committee could include the Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Director of the Enforcement Directorate.

    “The committee shall have all the powers to undertake an effective investigation with all powers which are available under the relevant legislations regulations/rules, including every authority and power to avail all assistance and protocols for its investigation outside India,” said the note.

    It added that this committee should have no reflection either on the ability or competence of Sebi and all other statutory agencies, and it should submit a report within a period of eight weeks.

    The Centre said the committee should submit a report “regarding the truthfulness or otherwise of the allegations levelled against Adani group of companies in the Hindenburg report”.

    The note added, “To ascertain and submit a report regarding Hindenburg’s admitted claim of taking a ‘short position in Adani Group companies through US traded bonds and non-Indian traded derivatives instruments’ prior to the publication of its subject report with all underlying transactions undertaken/made either by Hindenburg itself, its associated companies/concerns and/or connected entities/individuals, whether within or outside India in violation of any regulatory/penal/preventive or other statutory provisions.”

    It added that the committee should ascertain and submit a report regarding the details of all undisclosed “short positions” and/or other transactions, source of funds and profits made by short sellers in India or abroad prior to and/or in near proximity of the Hindenburg report.

    “Suggest measures to strengthen investor awareness including at the point of trade. Suggest measures to strengthen statutory and/or regulatory framework for further and better protection of investors,” added the note.

    The Supreme Court is yet to issue an order on setting up of a panel proposed to examine investor protection mechanisms against the backdrop of the Hindenburg report.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • ‘Will continue to report without fear or favour’: BBC says after IT ‘survey’

    ‘Will continue to report without fear or favour’: BBC says after IT ‘survey’

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    After a three-day investigation that entailed searching through files and copying data from certain digital devices, the income tax inspectors departed the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai on Thursday night.

    The UK national broadcaster confirmed the news on Twitter and stated that they will keep working with the authorities.

    “The income tax authorities have left our offices in Delhi and Mumbai. We will continue to cooperate with the authorities and hope matters are resolved as soon as possible.

    We are supporting staff – some of whom have faced lengthy questioning or been required to stay overnight – and their welfare is our priority. Our output is back to normal and we remain committed to serving our audiences in India and beyond.

    The BBC is a trusted, independent media organisation and we stand by our colleagues and journalists who will continue to report without fear or favour,” a statment by the BBC read.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Apple begins laying off third-party contractors: Report

    Apple begins laying off third-party contractors: Report

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    San Francisco: Apple, the only Big Tech company that has avoided mass layoffs to date, has reportedly started laying off third-party contractors.

    The New York Post reported, citing people with direct knowledge, that the iPhone maker has started to cut ties with hundreds of contractors quietly.

    “Instead of waiting for contracts that are typically renewed every 12 to 15 months to expire, Apple is firing contractors outright,” said the report, citing sources.

    Apple did not comment on the report.

    According to the report, firing contractors is a move to cut costs.

    The company hasn’t disclosed the size of its contractor workforce, but reports suggest it numbers in the thousands.

    Apple CEO Tim Cook had called layoffs at the company a “last resort kind of thing”, adding that “You can never say never”.

    Cook had told the Wall Street Journal that Apple is managing costs very tightly.

    “We want to manage costs in other ways to the degree that we can,” he was quoted as saying.

    Apple faced supply chain disruptions in October and November as China faced Covid surge and protests erupted at its key supplier Foxconn’s main factory in the country.

    Cook said that Covid-related challenges “significantly impacted the supply of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max and lasted through most of December”.

    As a result of a challenging environment, “our revenue was down 5 per cent year over year”, he added.

    According to Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives, Apple didn’t overhire during the pandemic.

    Apple’s employee count went up by about 7 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021.

    Cook has already taken a huge pay cut of $35 million, or more than 40 per cent of his compensation.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Witnesses in Trump investigation may have lied, says Georgia grand jury report

    Witnesses in Trump investigation may have lied, says Georgia grand jury report

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    Multiple witnesses who testified before a special purpose grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election may have lied and committed perjury, according to a section of the grand jury’s report released on Thursday.

    The report offers the first insight into the work of the special purpose grand jury, which was convened in May last year. The 23 jurors and three alternates heard from 75 witnesses during the course of its investigation.

    The Georgia case, led by the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, is believed to be one of the most likely scenarios in which the former president, and some of his allies, could face charges for efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 US election.

    “A majority of the Grand Jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it. The Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling,” the grand jurors wrote. The sections released on Thursday do not name the witnesses or provide any other details.

    A judge also released the introduction and conclusion to the report, neither of which provide substantive insight into whether Trump or allies will face criminal charges. The judge has declined to release the full report until Willis decides whether to bring charges.

    The introduction details the special grand jury’s process and says it ultimately unanimously concluded “no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election”. It also says the grand jurors heard “extensive testimony on the subject of alleged election fraud from poll workers, investigators, technical experts, and State of Georgia employees and officials, as well as from persons still claiming that such fraud took place”.

    The conclusion acknowledges that Willis, the prosecutor, has discretion to seek charges outside of what the grand jury recommends.

    “If this report fails to include any potential violations of referenced statutes that were shown in the investigation, we acknowledge the discretion of the District Attorney to seek indictments where she finds sufficient cause,” the report says. “Furthermore this Grand Jury contained no election law experts or criminal lawyers. The majority of this Grand Jury used their collective best efforts, however, to attend every session, listen to every witness, and attempt to understand the facts as presented and the laws as explained.”

    The work of the special purpose grand jury is being closely watched because it ultimately could lead to the first criminal charges against Trump for his actions after the 2020 election. A special purpose grand jury is convened for an indefinite amount of time and can subpoena witnesses, but not issue indictments.

    The investigation is meant to determine whether Donald Trump and allies violated Georgia state law in their efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump infamously called the Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and requested that he “find” votes in his favor. “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more that we have because we won the state,” he said in a January 2021 phone call.

    Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, has also been informed he is a target of the investigation. Sixteen people who served as fake electors from Georgia are also reportedly targets of the investigation.

    The decision over whether to bring charges is ultimately up to Willis, a Democrat in her first term as the Fulton county district attorney. Willis said at a court hearing last month that a decision on whether to bring charges was “imminent”.

    Trump and allies could face a range of criminal charges under Georgia law. It is a crime in Georgia to solicit someone to commit election fraud or to interfere with the performance of official election duties. Willis could also bring charges under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act to charge Trump’s confidantes with crimes as part of a broader conspiracy to overturn the election. Willis hired a lawyer who specializes in Rico to assist her with the investigation.

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    #Witnesses #Trump #investigation #lied #Georgia #grand #jury #report
    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Judge releases part of Georgia grand jury report on alleged 2020 election tampering

    Judge releases part of Georgia grand jury report on alleged 2020 election tampering

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    The bulk of the report, including recommendations about potential criminal charges for Trump and his allies, remains under seal.

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who opposed release of any portion of the report at this time, said during a court hearing about three weeks ago that her decisions about potential prosecutions were “imminent.” She has not provided a further update.

    Trump has denounced the investigation as a political vendetta.

    “The long awaited important sections of the Georgia report, which do not even mention President Trump’s name, have nothing to do with the President because President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong,” a spokesperson for the former president said Thursday.

    The report underscores the extensive investigation that Willis undertook, noting that the panel heard from 75 witnesses, as well as investigators who helped them comb through voluminous documents related to the probe.

    The partial release also makes clear that many grand jurors believe that some of the testimony they heard from witnesses subpoenaed to discuss election-related issues and incidents was false.

    “A majority of the grand jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it,” the report says. “ The Grand Jury recommends that the district attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”

    Willis has spent the last year investigating Trump and his allies’ bid to reverse the election results in Georgia, despite losing the state by 11,000 votes. Willis’ probe focused on Trump’s Jan. 2 phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking him to “find” just enough votes to put Trump ahead of Joe Biden in the state.

    Raffensperger declined the request and told Trump that investigators found his claims of fraud to be baseless.

    The Trump spokesperson on Thursday defended that call as “perfect” and stressed that there were “many officials and attorneys on the line, including the Secretary of State of Georgia, and no one objected, even slightly protested, or hung up.”

    The report underscores the wide-ranging investigation that Willis undertook, noting that the panel heard from 75 witnesses, as well as investigators who helped them comb through voluminous documents related to the probe.

    Willis has also pursued evidence about Trump’s broader national effort to subvert the election, calling before the special grand jury top aides like his White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, attorney John Eastman and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

    Those issues are also the subject of an ongoing federal investigation based in Washington now being headed by special counsel Jack Smith. No charges have yet been brought in that probe.

    Under Georgia law, the special grand jury which was sworn in last May could subpoena witnesses and documents, but could not return indictments. Willis would have to seek such charges another, regular grand jury, but can present the evidence and testimony gathered by the special panel.

    Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said in a ruling Monday that state law compelled him to publicly release the special grand jury’s findings, although he agreed to defer publishing portions of the report that discuss potential charges against individuals. The special grand jurors had urged the court to make their findings public.

    The special grand jury also seemed in its report to seek to assert some independence from Willis’ prosecutors. “That Office had nothing to do with the recommendations contained herein,” the report says, signed by the foreperson and deputy foreperson. The signatures and names of the jury’s leaders were redacted from the excerpts released Thursday.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Thousands of Ukrainian children put through Russian ‘re-education’ camps, US report finds

    Thousands of Ukrainian children put through Russian ‘re-education’ camps, US report finds

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    At least 6,000 children from Ukraine have attended Russian “re-education” camps in the past year, with several hundred held there for weeks or months beyond their scheduled return date, according to a new report published in the US.

    Russia has also unnecessarily expedited the adoption and fostering of children from Ukraine in what could constitute a war crime, the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab report found. The report was funded by the US state department.

    Since the start of the war nearly a year ago, children as young as four months living in the occupied areas have been taken to 43 camps across Russia, including in Moscow-annexed Crimea and Siberia, for “pro-Russia patriotic and military-related education”, said the report.

    In at least two of the camps, the children’s return date was delayed by weeks, while at two other camps, the return of some children was postponed indefinitely.

    Russian authorities sought to provide a pro-Moscow viewpoint to children through school curricula as well as through field trips to patriotic sites and talks from veterans, the report found.

    Videos published from the camps by the occupying regional authorities show children in the camps singing the Russian national anthem and carrying the Russian flag. In separate videos, teachers, employed to teach the children, talk about the need to correct their understanding of Russian and Soviet history.

    Children were also given training in firearms, although Nathaniel Raymond, a Yale researcher who oversaw the report, said there was no evidence they were being sent back to fight.

    “Mounting evidence of Russia’s actions lays bare the Kremlin’s aims to deny and suppress Ukraine’s identity, history, and culture,” the US state department said in a statement. “The devastating impacts of Putin’s war on Ukraine’s children will be felt for generations.”

    US state department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters the report “details Russia’s systematic, government-wide efforts to permanently relocate thousands of Ukraine’s children to areas under Russian government control via a network of 43 camps and other facilities.

    “In many cases, Russia purported to temporarily evacuate children from Ukraine under the guise of a free summer camp, only to later refuse to return the children and to cut off all contact with their families.”

    The report called for a neutral body to be granted access to the camps and for Russia immediately to stop adoptions of Ukrainian children. The report said that Putin aides have been closely involved in the operation, especially Maria Lvova-Belova, the presidential commissioner for children’s rights. It quoted her as saying that 350 children had been adopted by Russian families and that more than 1,000 were awaiting adoption.

    Russia’s embassy in Washington responded to the report’s findings on Telegram, saying, “Russia accepted children who were forced to flee with their families from the shelling,” and, “We do our best to keep underage people in families, and in cases of absence or death of parents and relatives – to transfer orphans under guardianship.”

    The report said some parents were pressured to give consent to send away their children, sometimes in the hope they would return. Others, the report said, “are sent with the consent of their parents for an agreed duration of days or weeks and returned to their parents as originally scheduled”.

    The report -which was compiled with the help of satellite imagery and public accounts – said that the number of children sent to the camps is “likely significantly higher” than the 6,000 confirmed.

    Researchers spoke to the parents of children who had attended the camps or were being kept there, as well as to children who had attended. “After calling the camp director, one mother was allegedly told that children could not be returned because, ‘There is war there.’

    There is little information on the explanation given to children regarding delays in their return. An official at the Medvezhonok camp told a boy from Ukraine that his return was conditional: the children would be returned only if Russia recaptured the town of Izium, the report said. Another boy was told he wouldn’t be returning home due to his “pro-Ukrainian views”, the report said.

    Some parents were told that their children will be released only if they physically come to pick them up. Relatives or people given power of attorney were not allowed to pick up the children. Travel from Ukraine to Russia is difficult and expensive, and men between the ages of 18 and 60 are forbidden from leaving the country, in effect meaning only the mothers of the children may retrieve them.

    “A significant portion of these families are low-income and have not been able to afford to make the trip. Some families were forced to sell belongings and travel through four countries to be reunited with their child,” the report found.

    One of the camps is located in Magadan oblast, roughly 6,230km (3,900 miles) from Ukraine. This puts it “roughly three times closer to the United States than it is to the border of Ukraine,” the report said.

    Raymond said that Russia was in “clear violation” of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the treatment of civilians during war and called the report a “gigantic Amber alert” – referring to US public notices of child abductions.

    The Russian activity “in some cases may constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity”, he told reporters.

    Ukraine’s government recently claimed that more than 14,700 children had been deported to Russia, where some had been sexually exploited.

    Additional reporting by Isobel Koshiw and AFP



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    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Judge orders partial release of Georgia grand jury report on possible 2020 election crimes

    Judge orders partial release of Georgia grand jury report on possible 2020 election crimes

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    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis indicated last month that decisions on whether to charge any subjects of her investigation are “imminent.” Her year-long probe into whether Trump violated Georgia election law — in part by urging Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to reverse the outcome — featured extensive efforts to compel testimony form some of Trump’s top White House and campaign advisers, as well as his outside lawyers.

    Dispite Willis’ preferences on timing, McBurney said he had to prioritize the public’s right to know about at least the general findings of the probe into alleged efforts to tamper with the 2020 election results.

    “While publication may not be convenient for the pacing of the district attorney’s investigation, the compelling public interest in these proceedings and the unquestionable value and importance of transparency require their release,” McBurney wrote in his eight-page order.

    A spokesperson for Willis did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge’s order and whether she will seek to appeal it.

    McBurney ruled that aspects of the report that recommend whether to indict — or not indict — specific individuals should remain private for now in part because those individuals are not afforded the same due process rights during the grand jury process they would have in court if they’re charged.

    While witnesses were permitted to have their lawyers nearby during the grand-jury proceedings, those lawyers were not permitted to sit in on the interviews to help mount a defense or rebut questions from prosecutors and grand jurors.

    Willis’ office got court approval for the special grand jury investigation last January and impaneled the actual jury in May.

    The probe stems in large part from a phone call Trump held with Raffensperger on Jan. 3, 2021, asking him to locate more than additional 11,000 votes for Trump so that he could be deemed the victor over Joe Biden in the state. Raffensperger and other state officials repeatedly told Trump they’d looked into allegations he’d made of fraud and hidden stashes ballots, but found nothing to support them.

    While the Georgia officials stood firm, a recording of the call indicates Trump continued to press, largely ignoring their explanations.

    But the probe significantly broadened over time to focus on Trump’s larger effort to subvert the 2020 election, in part by pushing allies in several states to deliver false sets of presidential electors to Washington. Among the witnesses Willis compelled to appear in Fulton County: Rudy Giuliani, Mike Flynn, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mark Meadows, all of whom lost court battles to resist her summons.

    Many legal analysts have said the call could amount to an illegal attempt to tamper with the election results, although Trump has described the call as “perfect.” The special grand jury also explored efforts other Trump supporters made to urge recounts or decertification of the election results in the days before Congress met to tally the electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021.

    Trump’s lawyers did not seek to intervene in the litigation over releasing the special grand jury’s report. The former president’s attorneys issued a statement last month saying they assumed the investigative body recommended no charges since it never subpoenaed him or sought a voluntary interview.

    Trump’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request Monday for comment on the judge’s new order.

    Under Georgia law, special grand juries cannot return indictments, but their results can be used by prosecutors to take a case before a regular grand jury to seek criminal charges.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • SC asks Centre, SEBI to submit report on steps taken on Adani-Hindenburg row

    SC asks Centre, SEBI to submit report on steps taken on Adani-Hindenburg row

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    The Supreme Court instructed the Centre and SEBI to submit a report on the regulatory regime and steps taken in the aftermath of the Hindenburg-Adani issue, setting Monday as the day for hearing the case.

    The court has urged the government and SEBI to provide information by Monday on the causes of the market crash following the Hindenburg Research report, as well as suggestions on how the regulatory system may be reinforced to prevent such an event in the future.

    The court directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to submit the note after consulting with the government and SEBI on the best course of action, and even advocated forming an expert committee to make necessary changes to the legislative and regulatory framework governing security markets.

    The bench stated that because there is seamless money movement and growing middle class investment in the stock market, a strong system must be put in place to protect investors.

    “The point that really bothers us is how do we protect the interest of the Indian investors,” the bench said

    “Can we contemplate an expert committee that can give inputs for modifying the statutory regulations so that it doesn’t happen again?” the apex court questioned SEBI.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Chinese app TikTok sacks entire India staff: Report

    Chinese app TikTok sacks entire India staff: Report

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    New Delhi: Chinese short video-making app TikTok has reportedly sacked its entire India staff — about 40 employees — and February 28 will be their last working day.

    According to a report in The Economic Times, the ByteDance-owned platform, banned in India in June 2020 over national security concerns, told its employees they would receive up to nine months of severance package.

    However, most of the staff will only get three-month severance.

    In June 2020, the government banned TikTok along with 59 other Chinese apps citing security concerns.

    Since then, the country has banned over 300 Chinese apps, including WeChat, Shareit, Helo, Likee, UC News, Bigo Live, UC Browser and many more.

    The Centre last week blocked over 230 apps, including 138 betting and about 94 loan apps, which were traced to Chinese links.

    The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) was recently instructed by the MHA to ban such apps, which operate through a third party link.

    All these apps were found violating Section 69 of the IT Act and contained materials which were deemed as a threat to India’s sovereignty and integrity.

    Meanwhile, US Senator Michael Bennett has urged Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai to immediately remove TikTok from their app stores, calling it an unacceptable risk to American national security.

    The US plans to ban Chinese short video-making app TikTok nationwide, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a vote next month on a bill to completely block the platform.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • US needs to address India’s downward trend of democratic values: Senatorial report

    US needs to address India’s downward trend of democratic values: Senatorial report

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    Washington: As the US focuses on the Indo-Pacific, in particular the Quad, the Biden administration needs to address India’s ties with Russia and its “downward trend of democratic values and institutions”, said a report by the Democratic Party of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

    The report has called for supporting a strong and democratic India.

    Senate Foreign Affairs Chairman Senator Robert Menendez Thursday said the US needs to approach the Indo-Pacific with a well-resourced, whole-of-government approach that synchronizes the military-security elements with diplomatic, economic, and civil society elements to ensure the greatest chance of success.

    The “Strategic Alignment: The Imperative of Resourcing the Indo-Pacific Strategy”, a Majority Staff Report, was released by Menendez on Thursday.

    “I believe that President Biden’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, released one year ago, adopts this whole-of-government approach. If fully equipped with the tools that it needs to be successful, this strategy will underpin the United States’ leadership in the most consequential and dynamic region of the world in the 21st century,” he said.

    The report said the Biden administration was correct not to make its Indo-Pacific strategy solely about competition with the People’s Republic of China. But to succeed, it has to grapple with the realities of this competition for the US and the challenges it poses for its regional allies and partners, it said.

    In its seventh and last recommendation, the Major Staff Report calls for supporting a strong and democratic India.

    “Even as the administration rightly treats India as an important security partner, it will need to address the very real complications of India’s continued ties with, and dependence on, Russia for defence equipment and its recent downward trend of democratic values and institution,” it said.

    According to the report, the United States and China vie for the position of India’s largest trading partner.

    India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry reported in June 2022 that trade with the US exceeded that of China, an important marker in the increasingly close ties between Washington and New Delhi, the report noted

    “Indeed, the relationship between the world’s two largest democracies has been on an upward trajectory for more than two decades, overcoming Cold War antagonism and division over India’s nuclear programme and the country’s testing of a nuclear device in 1998,” it said.

    Security ties have deepened dramatically in recent years as both countries are increasingly concerned about the implications of a more assertive China, the report said.

    “The US and India are now major defence partners and the two countries have launched a new Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies to enhance cooperation on quantum computing, 5G and 6G networks, space, semiconductors, biotech, and artificial intelligence.”

    The report follows up on Chairman Menendez’s 2014 Democratic Staff report, which underscored the importance of increasing diplomatic and development resources in the region.

    It offers a comprehensive examination of US diplomatic and development agencies’ investment in the Indo-Pacific region since 2014. It also makes a series of recommendations to advance the administration’s capacity to meet the IPS’ objectives and to enhance US national and economic security.

    “In the nine years, two administrations, and numerous strategies since my last report, little progress has been made to advance US diplomacy and development efforts in the Indo-Pacific, all while the PRC continues to expand its influence through aggressive impositions on states’ sovereignty, localized disinformation campaigns, and predatory economic investments,” Menendez said.

    “If we are serious about advancing US interests in Asia and competing with the PRC (People’s Republic of China), we must match ambitious policy with ambitious resourcing,” he said.

    The report recommends that the Biden Administration must significantly increase funding for diplomatic and development agencies across the US government and dedicate a larger portion of the Department of State operating budget and Washinton’s foreign assistance to advance priorities in the Indo-Pacific.

    Congress should be made an active partner to ensure sufficient allocation of resources to the Indo-Pacific, to provide new authorities if and when needed, and to engage in effective oversight, it said.

    The Indo-Pacific Strategy must include a substantive and action-oriented economic agenda that is commensurate with US interests and responsive to our allies’ and partners’ calls for increased US economic engagement, it said.

    Seeking to deepen engagement with the United States’ network of allies and partners across the region, the report says that the US and its partners must strive to provide alternative financing and economic development projects to compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Digital Silk Road.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )