India no longer non-aligned country: US

WASHINGTON: Ahead of a crucial Indo-US strategic dialogue, the US on Friday said it no longer considers India a non-aligned country, but New Delhi is not an American ally in traditional sense.

"I do not consider India a non-aligned country any more. I think that really changed after 9/11 where India really realized that it has a wide range of common interest with the United States," said Robert Blake, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.

"I do not think that India and the United States would be allies in the traditional sense, but I do think, that we have an expanding convergence of our national interest," he underlined, as the two nations prepares for the third round of Strategic Dialogue later this month.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be leading a high-powered US delegation to New Delhi for strategic talks, the dates of which are yet to be announced.

Blake said the two leading democracies of the world "have common vales like support for free market economies, support for peace and stability around the world".

He underlined that India and the US are increasingly working together to help promote peace and security "so that is why our President has said that this is going to be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century".

Blake told journalists in response to a question during a web chat, organized by the State Department, that the dialogue would review the relationship between the two countries and focus on the way forward.

"All her focus would be to review wide range of cooperation she already had with counterparts External Affairs Minister, S M Krishna. But it is just important is to look ahead as to how we take this relationship forward," the top diplomat said.