Hillary Clinton urges India to be more assertive in Asia

How embarrassing it can be that a superpower is asking us to be strong in foreign policy!
Sorry US, we couldn't re-produce Indira afterwards...

CHENNAI: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged India on Wednesday to be more assertive in Asia, saying the country should play more of a leadership role.

"India's leadership has the potential to positively shape the future of the Asia-Pacific... and we encourage you not just to look east, but continue to engage and act east as well," she said in Chennai.

Clinton said India should play a role as a US ally in regional forums such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a planned East Asia Summit later this year.

New Delhi could also help promote trade links in violence-wracked South Asia, which would bring prosperity and peace to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Clinton said.

"This is not a time when any of us can afford to look inward at the expense of looking outward," she added. "This is a time to seize the emerging opportunities of the 21st century. This is a time to lead."

Clinton's encouragement for India reflects US policy of promoting the country as a potential counter-balance to an increasingly assertive China in Asia.

As well as praise and advocacy for India, Clinton returned to the issue of New Delhi's stance on human rights abuses in Asia, which was also highlighted by US President Barack Obama in his visit to the country last year.

"As India takes on a larger role throughout the Asia-Pacific, it is also taking on new responsibilities including the duty to speak out against violations of universal human rights," she said.

Obama had chided India for failing to criticise the record of military-run Myanmar.

Hillary Clinton urges India to be more assertive in Asia - The Times of India

I think this is a signal from the US that we will back you up in Astan, Vietnam if you want to act there and in fact you should.

I think it may also mean look for ways of notching up an alliance in the east of Asia and we will back you up. Obviously all of this with the intention of countering China.

Well, I think she's just asking the government to grow some much needed balls !

You can say that. But I think the real thing is that earlier because of cold war, they use to make sure we were boxed up. Now we have the license to get a move on. Look at some of the weapons purchases we have made in recent times.

It will be tomfoolery if we don't take advantage of this opportunity. We should be assertive & must keep central asia as well as IOR countries in check.

We must secure all the political mileage of Asia, military options should always be open in doing so.

This can be the right time to ask for troops to be placed in Afghanistan?

Putting troops in Astan is little complex situation. As it can direct Talib/AQ's anger directly inside India. But we've already faced enough. If stronger tomorrow demands sacrifice, so be it. What have we achieved by showing compassion anyways?

And subject those poor troopers to massacre ! Hell no, LF. GOI may be without balls, but not utterly stupid !

Clinton Tells India It’s ‘Time to Lead’ in Asia-Pacific - Bloomberg

Clinton Tells India It’s ‘Time to Lead’ in Asia-Pacific

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on India today to expand its presence in East Asia, positioning it as a partner in countering China’s growing power.

“This is a time to seize the emerging opportunities of the 21st century,” Clinton told an audience in the southern city of Chennai. “This is a time to lead,” she said, urging India also to play a greater role in integrating Afghanistan into South Asia’s regional economy.

Clinton urged India’s leaders to work with the U.S. to ensure East Asian shipping routes remain open and free from piracy. Clinton cast the U.S. and India as bookends of the Asia- Pacific with stewardship of the region’s waters, and ideally its values and economic norms as well.

“The United States as a Pacific power, and India, straddling the waters from the Indian to Pacific Oceans, are both stewards of these waterways and both deeply invested in shaping the future of the rapidly changing region they connect,” Clinton said.

Clinton arrived in the southern Indian economic hub as part of a two-day trip to broaden trade and investment and more closely align U.S.-India work on counterterrorism and on strategic goals in Afghanistan and Asia.
Shared Vision

Arguing that the two democracies have a shared vision, Clinton said India should join the U.S. in creating a region that embraces “international norms on security, trade, rule of law, human rights and accountable governance.”

As the region’s importance to the global economy grows, so does the need to fight piracy and secure shipping lanes and freedom of navigation, Clinton said.

There have been tensions over the South China Sea, a potentially oil- and gas-rich archipelago where China has clashed with Vietnam and the Philippines over claims to contested waters. Today, the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations reached a non-binding agreement on rules for keeping the peace in the region.

Clinton said the U.S. wants to work with India to build the East Asia Summit, a forum of 16 regional nations plus Australia and the United States, into “the Asia-Pacific’s premier forum for dealing with political and security issues, setting the priorities and vision for other regional institutions.”
New Talks

China has resisted a regional approach to the South China Sea disputes and has criticized U.S. for speaking out on the issue.

The U.S. will inaugurate a regular dialogue with Japan and India, Clinton said. She added that the U.S. is “also committed to a strong, constructive relationship among India, the United States and China.”

“This will not always be easy,” she added. “There are important matters on which we will disagree. But we have significant areas of common interest.”

As India takes on a larger role in the region, Clinton said it would have new responsibilities, including the duty to speak out against violations of universal human rights.

She praised India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who visited Myanmar last month and met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. China and Myanmar have close diplomatic and trade ties.
Afghan Trade

Clinton’s visit came as the U.S. starts withdrawing troops from Afghanistan this month, with a plan to ending combat operations by 2014. She told her audience that the Afghan government’s effort to reach a political truce with insurgents would only succeed with support from India and a “ stable, democratic, prosperous Pakistan, free from violent extremism.”

Clinton also called on India to increase its trade with Afghanistan. That would enable Afghanistan to draw foreign investment and reach other markets abroad, she said.

Clinton will travel next to Bali, Indonesia, for Asean meetings and the East Asia Summit, then to Hong Kong and China, where she will have a working lunch with State Councilor Dai Bingguo.

Interesting first time I see US mentioning Indian involvement in the Pacific. Chinese containment in full swing.

It's not stupid it is a perfect strategic opportunity to gain access to Central Asia and contain Pakistan and China.

At some point of time, we'll have to take out guns. And there will be necessary collateral damage.

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Look East, and act East, too: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to India

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Speaking of central asia, how far are we on setting up militray base in Mongolia? It should be spearheaded. All that hot air went away some years ago.

Probably. Mine was a light hearted comment, mate.

Seriously speaking, I think it actually means that India supports the American position against Iran & China. It also means that we start taking more interest Asia'a geopolitics and start looking at possibilities to form mutual alliances with like minded partners who support the American vision for Asia. Basically, become more pro active in Asian affairs like Japan and China.

Pakistan’s Military Plotted to Tilt U.S. Policy

And congress was fooled for 2 decades??

I really doubt the timings of all these events over Hillary's visit.

I don't think this comment is aimed at any particular strategic situation but rather a general message.

Frankly, Indian organizations and the government have a very poor history of leadership. The two examples that stick out the most are India's foreign policy office and the BCCI. One is muddled and incoherent while the other abuses it's position as the leader. India cannot try and project itself as a "regional power" without showing it's mettle as a benevolent leader.

One common misconception I have noticed in the Indian middle class is the confusion between leadership and belligerence. Excessive belligerence is actually a sign of insecurity which is antithetical to good leadership.