US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice's whirlwind and high-profile tour of Asia has once again focused the attention on Asia as being crucial for global security and stability. Rice made sure that she left her own mark on diplomacy in Asia. She addressed a number of crucial issues and made sure that the US policy for the states in the region was clearly articulated. One of her biggest strengths is that, unlike her predecessor Colin Powell, she is close to the US President. She has transformed the language and image of US diplomacy by bringing the White House's views to the State Department. The world knows that when Rice speaks, she really speaks for the US President.

The importance which the US attaches to its ties with India was reflected in Rice's choice of India as her first stop on her tour. The strategic environment that had constrained Indo-US ties in the past from achieving their full potential is now an enabling factor, as Indo-US ties are at an all-time high. Indicating that the US is ready to lift all the nuclear sanctions imposed on India after its first nuclear test in 1974, the US is ready to offer civilian nuclear technology to India. India is seen by the Bush Administration as a responsible global player that can be trusted with nuclear technology. During her visit, Rice acknowledged India's rising global profile and sought its partnership for maintaining regional and global stability. Despite some glitches, such as the US opposition to the Indo-Iran gas pipeline project and Indian opposition to the sale of F-16 fighters to Pakistan, Rice's visit reflected the changing framework of Indo-US ties.

At a broader level, Rice outlined a new strategic vision for Asian security with emerging powers like Japan and India at its center. She welcomed Japan's increasingly assertive role on the global stage even as she asked China to link  its growing capabilities with its international responsibilities. This visit was an attempt to rally US allies in East Asia to confront the growing belligerence of North Korea. Though Rice reiterated that the US has no intention of attacking North Korea, she also made it plain that the US has run out of patience with North Korea's continued refusal to rejoin nuclear disarmament talks. By visiting the underground command bunker in South Korea from which US military commanders would direct any war against North Korea, she sent a not so subtle message to the North Korean regime that time was running out. As of now, however, the focus remains on reviving the six-party disarmament talks with North Korea involving China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the US with the likelihood of imposing sanctions in the future in case North Korea remains adamant on not returning to the talks.

There is a growing perception in the US that China is not doing enough to effectively pressure North Korea on its nuclear program. Rice has challenged China to address the North Korean issue more effectively. She also made clean US displeasure over heightened tensions with Taiwan and made a personal statement about the limitations on religious freedom in China by attending a Sunday church service. China's rising prowess and increasing diplomatic reach has become a matter of grave concern for the Bush Administration. It is being argued that even as the US has been focusing on it war on terror over the past two years, China has undercut US's influence by some subtle diplomacy not only in Asia but in other parts of the world too. Rice's visit was a beginning in regaining that diplomatic space that the US seems to have lost in the last few years.

Condoleezza Rice's week-long Asian tour has laid bare, in more ways than one, of US thinking on the emerging strategic environment in Asia. It is now for India to take advantage of the changing security environment and the concomitant changes in US stakes and interests in India. India need not be euphoric about its newfound importance in US strategic thinking. It should carve its own diplomatic space by pursuing its national interests. Contemporary global and regional environment presents India with unique opportunities to harness it for its own ends.