In a joint news conference yesterday in New Delhi, Rice and Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said they discussed possible sales of the F-16 to both India and Pakistan, but did not expect any agreement to be announced.
India wants to buy the US weaponry while denying it to Pakistan. The neighboring rivals have fought three wars since their 1947 independence from Britain.
Rice -- who is due to visit Pakistan next on her whirlwind tour of Asia this week that also includes stops in South Korea, Japan and China -- said F-16 sales would be a topic during talks in Islamabad as well. Pakistan bought 40 F-16s during the 1980s, but Congress put a stop to sales in 1990.
Asked about India's plan to build an oil pipeline from Iran, Rice said US objections are well-known. The US has no diplomatic relations with Iran and wants to keep international pressure on the Tehran regime to give up nuclear ambitions and institute democratic reforms.
Singh, however, indicated little willingness to cancel the deal.
"We have no problems of any kind with Iran," he said, as Rice looked on.
During their meeting, Singh said he and Rice "did express ... concerns about several matters on the defense issue," adding that "There are one or two items on which we don't agree, but our relations have now reached a maturity where we can discuss these things freely and frankly."
Asked by reporters to comment on Italy's plan to reduce its 3,000-member force in Iraq this fall, Rice said she was certain any decision by Italy would be made in consultation with the coalition and praised Italy for its participation. "The real answer to Iraqi security will be when Iraqis can do those security tasks," she said.
En route to India earlier this week, Rice said the US has built solid relationships with India and Pakistan, in part because of their cooperation in the war on terrorism, Rice told reporters en route to India. That "has helped the two states to have good relations with each other," she said.
Speaking in New Delhi on Tuesday, Rice suggested that European nations might reconsider their decision to sell weapons to China after Beijing enacted a law authorizing military force against Taiwan.
Rice also blamed North Korea for its diplomatic isolation, and said international diplomacy remains the best way to persuade the destitute country to give up nuclear ambitions.
The six-way talks included the US, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea, plus the North Koreans. North Korea pulled out of the talks, announced last month that is has already built a nuclear weapon and denounced the US.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the nations. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run until tomorrow evening. It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. State-run Vietnam News
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
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