Hilary Clinton to give Delhi a miss

NEW DELHI: Even as US envoy Richard Holbrooke completed his tour in the region with India, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton started her maiden overseas visit to Asia.

But even as she landed in Japan in the first part of her four-nation Asia tour, the absence of India from the itinerary has set off speculation about the different priorities of the Obama administration.

An article posted on The Foreign Policy website claimed that the foreign policy team of former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice had advised the Obama team on including India in the first overseas trip. ���Ms Clinton���s inaugural Asia trip was recommended to her during the transition by secretary Rice���s outgoing policy planning staff,��� the report said.

���The absence of a visit to New Delhi is the latest in an array of troubling signals about the new administration���s priorities on the subcontinent,��� the report added.