Panetta counts India as a challenge

For the second time in less than two months, US defence secretary Leon Panetta has said that the country is facing challenges from rising powers like China and India in Asia in 21st century.
"We have got the challenges of dealing with rising powers in Asia. We have got the challenge of, you know, dealing with countries like Russia, rising countries like India and others," Panetta told PBS News Hour in an interview.
"All of that represents the kind of challenges that we are going to have to deal with in this world of the 21st century," Panetta said.
This is for the second time in recent months that Panetta has identified India as a challenge among rising powers in Asia.
"We face the threats 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," Panetta had said on November 17.
Panetta's remarks came within hours of the Pentagon releasing its defence strategic review which said that the US is investing in long-term strategic partnership with India.