Seeking strong ties with both India and China, the US has said that its relations with the two Asian giants are not a zero-sum game.
"We have a strong bilateral relationship with India. The United States is in the midst of our Asia pivot, we are strengthening our interactions with Asian nations, especially with emerging powers like India and China," US state department spokesman Mark Toner said.
These are the kinds of ties that are going to set the framework for the US engagement with Asia throughout the next century, he said.
"This is not a zero-sum game. We need strong relations with both countries, and we need all of us working together," Toner said in response to a question.
"There are always going to be matters on which we disagree, but we also have significant areas of common interest," he said when asked about a column written by Robert Burns, former under secretary of state for political affairs, in The Boston Globe saying that India is a strategic partner for the US to limit the influence of China in Asia.