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'India must get priority over China'

Democratic Congressman Sherrod Brown has urged the Clinton administration to ensure a balance in the United States relations's with China and India in the overall American economic and strategic interests.

''India has and will become increasingly important to America's economic and strategic interests in South Asia,'' he said. ''This trend should be encouraged, for a democratic and open India is a much more natural partner for the US than an authoritarian China.''

He expressed these views in the latest issue of the International Policy Review, a journal edited by Professor Bruce P Corrie of the University of Saint Paul.

Brown, who is co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, said, ''Our relations with China have overshadowed our relationship with India for too long. This disparity does not serve our national interests and a more balanced approach must begin to emerge.''

Considering China's sheer size and global position, he pointed out, ''Stable American-Chinese relations are vital to the US interests. Our present obsession with China, however, blinds us to the opportunities for building a trade and diplomatic relationship with India.''

He said India's economic and political circumstances are much more conducive to a stable and beneficial partnership with the US than those which exist in China.

UNI

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