The arrival of two powerful U.S. warships at Kochi port Thursday on a goodwill visit marked a homecoming of sorts for the Indian-born commander of one of the vessels. Commander Tito Dua, who was born at Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and is currently captain of the missile frigate USS Gary, told newsmen on board the warship that he knows very little Hindi. "I'm sorry that I'm unable to divulge any details of where we came from and where we are heading for on June 22," he said. The two warships, the other being USS Vandergrift captained by Commander R.A.Rogers, will remain in the waters off Kochi till June 22. Their purpose of the visit is to provide rest and recreation for crewmembers. Commander Manohar Nambiar of the Indian Navy base at Kochi told IANS that there were several questions on whether the USS Gary had taken part in the Iraq war.

Indian industry feels the need of a strong campaign in the West to highlight the importance of outsourcing of jobs to India by global companies, a survey report said Thursday. According to the survey conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), a vast majority of the respondents favour a public relations exercise in the U.S. and Europe on the benefits of outsourcing. "There should be a communication campaign through the American media highlighting the value Indian BPO (business process outsourcing) industry is adding to the American society, polity and economy," said the survey. "To achieve this, a mass information campaign on outsourcing can be carried out in the U.S. and European countries," it added. Four American states -- New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut and Washington - are reportedly proposing to ban outsourcing of government contracts to companies outside the U.S.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee begins a visit to Beijing on Sunday for talks seen as giving India and China an opportunity to assert their independence from growing American power. Analysts see as unlikely any major agreements during Vajpayee's talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao, in the first visit by an Indian prime minister to China in a decade. But they say the world's two most populous countries, which fought a savage border war in 1962, have a mutual interest in improving ties to keep U.S. global dominance in check. India, which leaned towards Russia during the Cold War, has transformed its relationship with Washington in recent years but is keen to ensure this does not limit its room for manoeuvre. "India had wanted not to be seen entirely going the American way so they want their linesto Russia and China as well. So the summit is an equaliser in that sense," said Indian defence analyst Ashok Mehta. Beijing in turn is wary of Washington's ties with India.

If the US agrees to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan during President Pervez Musharraf's forthcoming meeting with President George Bush at Camp David, it is likely that Washington will want to have something in the bargain, according to Stratfor, a US-based think tank. In case the deal is struck, the Bush administration would seek an accord to ensure cessation of cross-border operations in Afghanistan as well as along the LoC in Kashmir, and also mount pressure on Musharraf to allow greater operational freedom to its forces in capturing terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban that may be hiding in Pakistan, says the report. Musharraf is certainly likely to place a demand for, and probably get, at least 28 F-16 fighter jets, besides concessions like debt relief, when he meets Bush on June 24. Meanwhile, the US embassy in New Delhi has totally denied a report in one of the American dailies, which said Washington had told Indian Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani that it would resume F-16 fighter sales to Pakistan. The embassy described the report as "pure fabrication." The News reported on Thursday that the Stratfor report, which was released on Wednesday, further revealed that since granting permission publicly would be unpopular and might evoke a strong response in the wake of ongoing anti-US sentiment among the Pakistani populace, "Musharraf might accede to US wishes, provided operations were conducted quietly and perhaps clandestinely."

The United States has decided to provide F-16 warplanes to Pakistan in return for Pakistan's support for US stance against Iran and North Korea, the US Defence and Foreign Affairs daily reported Wednesday. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was said to have informed Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani during his recent visit to Washington about the US decision. The decision could be announced during Musharraf's US visit, the report said.

Over 13,000 Muslims, many of them Pakistanis, found to be living illegally in the United States during the special US immigration registration process, are expected to be deported. Last December the US immigration department began requiring young men, mostly from 25 Muslim nations, to register in the hope of keeping track of recent arrivals from countries linked to terrorism, says Dawn. The last deadline was late April for males over 16 from Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Similar deadlines had passed for males from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan and many other countries. A total of 144,513 immigrants registered nationwide, according to the US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Enforcement, formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Of those, 13,434 have had deportation proceedings started against them. The agency said 2,783 were detained, with 99 remaining in custody as of June 1, the most recent statistics available.Many Pakistanis, who were unable to adjust their immigration status in the United States have either fled to Canada or European nations seeking political asylum, many have returned home. Although US authorities had held out an assurance that the process would be fair and transparent, most of the people fearing deportation left the United States after living here for more than 10 years.