Australia, U.S. and Japan consider`India as a coming great power

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today described India as a coming great power, and added that leaderships around the world were very keen to forge ties with New Delhi.

Sydney, Sept.8 : Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today described India as a "coming great power, and added that leaderships around the world were very keen to forge ties with New Delhi.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of APEC leaders here, Downer described India as an increasingly important world power, and said Australia, the United States and Japan have discussed ways to engage with India more actively.

"There was a lot of discussion about India, a lot of optimism about India, the importance of strengthening our relations with India," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Downer, as saying.

"There's a recognition now that India is a coming great power. It's the world's largest democracy, its economy is growing at a rapid rate ... and it's a country that we're all feeling increasingly comfortable working with.

"It was an opportunity to talk about a range of different issues, but certainly to focus on India and the importance of that country to us in the sia-Pacific region and broader geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region," he added.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, U.S. President George Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe focused on India as they held an informal breakfast meeting for the inaugural leadership-level trilateral strategic dialogue between the three allies.

Senior ministers, including Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab joined them.

Downer, however, said that expanding the strategic dialogue to include India was not on the table for the moment.

"Nothing like that is going to happen anytime soon, we are looking more in a general sense at progressing the relationship," he told reporters here.

The Australian Foreign Minister predicted that leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit were unlikely to expand their club to include India and other applicant countries.

"I think there are 11 applicants for APEC membership, India is one, it's quite a long list, and I think there is a consensus that if you were to bring one in, you'd have to bring others to balance it up," Downer said.

Meanwhile, Australia has assured China that the high-level meeting was not aimed at trying to contain its growing might.

Beijing is likely to be equally displeased by reports that the meeting concentrated on how to promote engagement with India, its growing rival in the region.

The table of nine breakfasted on Danish pastries, fresh fruit salad of berries and melon and there was a special taste treat for the overseas guests - individual jars of vegemite.

ANI