Paneeta's goof up
Washington: In a major goof up, new US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta clubbed India and China - describing them as emerging "threats", but his office quickly retracted that remark.
Mr Panetta put his foot in the mouth as he departed from a prepepared text during a speech at a shipyard in Connecticut, where he said "We face the threat 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".
However, Pentagon press secretary Gorge Little quickly clarified Mr Panetta's remarks, saying the US strongly valued a strong relationship with India and saw it as a nation of increasing prominance and power. "He does not view India is a threat" Mr Little told PTI.