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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| India - US ties grow under Bush administration |
| 2004-11-11 |
| Diwali, the festival of lights, was celebrated in style at the White House for the second consecutive year when former Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill lit a lamp in the presence of a large number of Indian Americans in the Eisenhower Building. Pictures of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha, two deities of the Hindu pantheon worshipped on Diwali, adorned the room that was decorated by many lamps. Though President Bush was not present, his message of greetings to the Indian Americans on the occasion of Diwali and its significance of the triumph of good over evil was read out by a State Department official. Bush gets it -- the seculars don't. He has consistently been respectful of other faiths. Believers notice this (except maybe many Muslims). Bush said Diwali also means peace and prosperity and goodwill for all people and expressed the hope that the world would adopt this message. Sambhu Banik, one of the Indian American leaders and a senior Bush administration official, told IANS that Blackwill said President Bush, who wanted very much to visit India before the end of his term, will now re-schedule it before the end of next year. He mentioned how Bush was also very keen to improve India-US relations and how he distanced himself from the outsourcing debate during the campaign (unlike his Democrat challenger John Kerry) because the president himself felt that outsourcing benefited both countries. |
| Posted by:too true |
| #2 And "The Great Game" continues. Different allies, different adversaries, and with far more pawns on the board. And yet much the same. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-11-11 1:27:29 PM |
| #1 Did the Blue Elephant show? (it's really Santa with a garland, I learn lots at RB) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-11 1:07:14 PM |