US defence secretary Leon Panetta describes India as threat

NEW DELHI: US defence secretary Leon Panetta put both feet in his mouth by describing India and China as "emerging threats" to his country. Panetta's gaffe in Washington coincided with President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting in Bali to boost bilateral engagement. His office quickly retracted the remarks and said Washington strongly values close ties with New Delhi.

Agency reports from Washington said Panetta departed from the prepared text and said: "There are still threats out there. We face threats from Iran; we face threats from North Korea; we face threats from cyber," while talking to workers at a submarine plant in Connecticut about emerging challenges facing the US beyond the Iraq and Afghan wars.

But the former CIA chief, who recently said that he was looking forward to visit India, strayed from the known US foreign policy stand by adding China and India to the list of countries posing security dangers: "We face the threats from rising powers - China, India, others - that we have to always be aware of and try to make sure that we always have sufficient force protection out there in the Pacific to make sure they know we're never going anywhere."

But Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby quickly sought to correct the impression, saying Panetta believed that relationships with China and India were absolutely vital. "Any suggestion that he was implying either country was a military threat is just false," Kirby said suggesting Panetta was referring instead to the challenges that China and India face "within themselves.