Washington: Terming India as an important country, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel today said that the country would continue to play a stabilising role in the region.
“India is a very important country, will continue to be an important power not just in the region, in the world, economically, diplomatically, in every way,” Hagel told reporters.
“India will continue to play a very stabilizing role in that part of the world,” he said in response to a question on emerging threat from China, as seen by its neighbours, which he described as a great power.
“China is a great power, will continue to be a great power. It has interests. Certainly those interests include the Pacific and Asia. We have interests as well. I think always the key to relationships with great powers is common interests,” he said.
“You anchor relationships around common interests. You don’t start with your differences. And that’s what we’ll continue to do is build onto those common interests with China, economic, diplomatic, military to military. And that’s the responsible approach,” the Defence Secretary explained.
