NEW DELHI — U.S. politician Sarah Palin stressed the importance of America’s ties with India, saying they were based on the shared values of freedom and free-market capitalism, while sounding a warning note on China’s rise during a speech Saturday in New Delhi.
The visit to India is a rare foreign venture for the former Alaska governor and reality TV star, who was Arizona Sen. John McCain’s running mate in his failed 2008 campaign for president. The trip, which also includes a stop in Israel, is raising speculation Palin wants to burnish her foreign policy credentials ahead of a possible 2012 presidential run.
Palin told a well-heeled audience of Indian business leaders, professionals and socialites that U.S.-Indian relations were “key to the future of our world.”
“We’re going to need each other, especially as these other regions rise,” she said, in an apparent reference to China, during a Q&A that followed a keynote speech titled “My Vision of America.”
“Free people in a free country don’t wage war on another country,” she said. “I want peace on Earth.”
She questioned the Chinese military’s ascent, saying the communist country’s stockpiling of ballistic missiles, submarines and “new-age, ultramodern aircraft” seemed unjustified when it did not face an outside threat.
“What’s with the military buildup?” she said. “China’s military growth can’t just be for defensive purposes.”
Reporters who had been assured access were barred at the last minute, but the speech was shown on Indian television and in a live webcast.
