Hillary Clinton Urges India to Play Larger Role in Asia

Melbourne: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has lauded India as an important player in the Indo-Pacific region and has also urged New Delhi to play a larger role in the region's affairs.

"We've made it a strategic priority to support India's Look East policy and to encourage Delhi to play a larger role in Asian institutions and affairs. It's exciting to see the developments as the world's largest democracy and a dynamic emerging economy begins to contribute more broadly to the region," Clinton said in her speech at Perth's University of Western Australia.  "It's also important to see the burgeoning relationship between Australia and India," she said.

Hilary Clinton, who is in Perth for high-level talks with Julia Gillard-led government, also applauded the upswing in Australia's bilateral ties with the "world's largest democracy" India. She has encouraged Australia to increase military co-operation with India.

Clinton's Perth speech at University of Western Australia has been noted by the political pundits as another step towards forming of a tripartite alliance between her country, India and Australia.

"We would welcome joint Australian-Indian naval vessel exercises in the future and we are eager to work together in the Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (the organisation of 19 Indian Ocean rim countries) which Australia will chair in 2013 and which the United States has now joined as a dialogue partner," Hilary Clinton said.

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