Obama plans series of announcements on domestic, foreign front

Washington, Jan 21 (PTI) New US President Barack Obama today said that he plans to make a series of announcements on both domestic and foreign policy front on his first full working day in the Oval Office. "Starting tomorrow we'll be making a series of announcements both on domestic and on foreign policy that I think will be critical for us to act swiftly on," Obama told the ABC news channel in an interview last night.
On his first day in his office, Obama has called a meeting of his commanders, in which he is expected to ask them to come out with a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months, a poll promise, and review the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The current situation in the Middle East is also pressing for decision on his table, as he reaches the Oval office.
And not to miss the current economic crisis and mega economic stimulus plan. "We're not going to be able to delay -- there have been a lot of things that have been pressing," Obama said.
As for the economic stimulus plan, Obama said: "Fortunately, we've seen Congress immediately start working on the economic recovery package -- getting that passed and putting people back to work, that's going to be the thing that we're most focused on."

Obama's immigration policy may help Indians

Washington, Jan 21 (PTI) In what could be seen as a boon to Indians wishing to come to the US, the new Obama Administration's proposed immigration policy favours increase in the number of the legal immigrants in the country. Governmental statistics in the past have indicated that Indians are mostly legal immigrants.
"Fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill," according to the White House document that outlines the Immigration Agenda of the new Administration. "Our broken immigration system can only be fixed by putting politics aside and offering a complete solution that secures our border, enforces our laws, and reaffirms our heritage as a nation of immigrants," Obama says in the paper.
The agenda document also promises to remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants. The Obama Administration would also support a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.
Delivering a speech on the floor of the Senate on May 23, 2007, then as the US Senator, Obama, who was sworn in as President yesterday, had said: "The time to fix our broken immigration system is now.
We need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace.
"But for reform to work, we also must respond to what pulls people to America.
Where we can reunite families, we should.
Where we can bring in more foreign-born workers with the skills our economy needs, we should."

'Pakistan to review options if Obama not positive'

Islamabad:Pakistan said Wednesday it would review its options if the Barack Obama administration didn't adopt a positive policy toward the country, even as the new US president said aid to Pakistan would be linked to the war against terror.
"Pakistan hopes that Obama will be more patient while dealing with Pakistan. We will review all options, if Obama does not adopt a positive policy towards us," Pakistan's ambassador to the US Hussain Huqqani told Geo TV in Islamabad.
According to the envoy, "Bush was more inclined to Pakistan. Obama should hear us out. He must pay attention to other factors in the region.
"Speaking about Pakistan's role in the war against terror, Huqqani said that Pakistan was an ally of the US and participating in the war against terror was in its own interest.
The envoy's comments came hours after Obama unveiled his policy agenda.
"President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will increase non-military aid to Pakistan and hold them accountable for security in the border region with Afghanistan," the White House said in its foreign policy agenda document released soon after Obama occupied the Oval office.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani military has bristled against suggestions that Islamabad needs to do more in the war against terror, terming the statements as "unhelpful" and saying they must "stop".
"Such unhelpful statements must be stopped," Gen. Tariq Majid, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), said in Islamabad.
"Pakistani efforts towards eradication of terrorism are more than that of all the others," he added, while speaking to Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Rauf Engin Soysal.
Majid is the second most powerful man in the Pakistani armed forces after army chief Gen. Parvez Ashfaq Kayani.
According to Majid, all international players in the war against terror "must come out from the coercive mindset and instead start delivering on the promised capacity assistance to help Pakistan in dealing with the problem".
Majid also maintained that Pakistan "does not need to prove to anyone its sincerity considering the huge sacrifices it has made and is continuing to make which cannot be matched by any of those players making these demands".

Obama administration warns Pak, links aid to war against terror

Washington: The new Obama administration has cautioned Pakistan that it would be held accountable for the security in the border regions of Afghanistan and that its performance in the fight against terrorism would be linked to the financial aid to it.
"(President Barack) Obama and (Vice President Joe) Biden will increase non-military aid to Pakistan and hold them accountable for security in the border region with Afghanistan," the White House said in its foreign policy agenda document released soon after Obama occupied the Oval office.
Biden, a known expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan, then in the capacity as the Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had introduced legislation in the US Senate in this regard.Co-authored jointly by the Republican Senator, Richard Lugar, the legislation proposes to triple non-military aid to Pakistan in the next five years.
The legislation authorises USD 7.5 billion over five years in aid that can be used for development purposes, such as building schools, roads and clinics. The bill also calls for greater accountability on security assistance, to improve Pakistani counterterrorism capabilities and ensure more effective efforts against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The foreign policy agenda of the Obama administration on Pakistan is in tune with the well known policies of Biden, which was also echoed by the Secretary of State-designate, Hillary Clinton during her nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee early this month.
As the key points of the Obama's foreign policy agenda revealed yesterday indicated, the new administration is expected to follow the key elements of Biden-Lugar proposals introduced last year. In lieu of USD 1.5 billion of non-military aid to Pakistan, Islamabad would be required to making concerted efforts to prevent al-Qaeda and associated terrorist groups from operating in its territory and make concerted efforts to prevent the Taliban from using its territory as a sanctuary to launch attacks within Afghanistan.Islamabad would also need to ensure that it does not materially interfere in the political or judicial processes of the country, the legislation says.