India Needs Time To Define Its Relationship With U.S.: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel

WASHINGTON: U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said India should be given time and space to define the nature of its relationship with the U.S., indicating that the Obama administration was willing to patiently wait for the new government to decide on its course of action.

Hours before he landed in New Delhi, Hagel told reporters travelling with him that the U.S. was mindful of the sensitivity of India’s independence.

“It has been an independent non-aligned nation since it became a democracy. We respect that. We take note of that. The people of India, like the people of any nation, deserve their decision-making space, and how they want not only their country to be perceived, but what foreign arrangements they want to make based on their terms,” he said.

“I do think that there is always an issue when the greatest power on earth, the United States, develops relationships with countries. No country wants to be seen as a second cousin to the U.S. or any country. And that’s as it should be. So that’s not an issue,” he said.

He said the Obama administration must find ways to adjust India’s political requirements and handle its relationships, with the U.S. It always must be seen, like any arrangement, as an agreement on a project or a deal or a sale as good for both sides, he said.

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