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Rice: historic transformation in India ties

Washington: Terming the “historic transformation” of the U.S. ties with the “rising democratic power,” India, one of its key strategic accomplishments, the Bush administration has said it will enable Washington to advance its “interests and values” in the region.

“There are other strategic accomplishments in Asia... partnerships with a newly democratic Afghanistan, a democratic Pakistan, and an historic transformation of our relationship with the rising democratic power, India,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said addressing The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank here.

“ ... at the beginning of our Administration, it was a bit rocky in Asia. Tensions were rising across the Taiwan Strait. The U.S.-China relations were strained by the downed EP-3 plane. Violence in Kashmir was pulling India and Pakistan toward conflict. A failed state in Afghanistan was a source of regional and, as we found out, global instability. And North Korea, illicitly pursuing a uranium enrichment capability, announced its withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty, threw international inspectors out of the country, and began once again to produce plutonium,” Ms. Rice said.

These actions contributed to rising tensions across Asia, most importantly in Northeast Asia.

“Since 2001,” Ms. Rice said, “the United States has improved its relationship with every state in Northeast Asia simultaneously.” — PTI

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Rice: historic transformation in India ties

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