For Hillary, ties with India are an 'affair of the heart'

Washington, June 14 (IANS) For US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, India-US relationship is an "affair of the heart" and her commitment to it has not diminished any with its ups and downs.

"With respect to affairs of the heart, they usually have ups and downs," she said amidst laughter at a joint press conference with Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna at the end of the third edition of India-US strategic dialogue.

"But that does not make them any less heartfelt or any less of a commitment," Clinton said when asked if given the ups and downs in their ties, the sentiments that she had voiced standing on the same podium with Krishna two years ago had changed.

"And so I feel as strongly today as I did two years ago," she said noting that "it's always a temptation to zero in on what the differences are."

"But whether it's one country or another or, in particular, India, I always look at the totality of the relationship," Clinton said.

While "two great nations with our histories and our political systems - these raucous, incredibly pluralistic democracies" were bound to have differences," she said, "there is no doubt that our values and our interests are converging."

"So I'm very positive about our relationship, and we will continue to work through the differences as they arise," Clinton said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)