India's Defence Ministry taken aback by Rudd's statement on security pact

New Delhi, Dec 2 (PTI) India's Ministry of Defence has said that it was taken aback by Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd's reported statement suggesting that India would be roped into a trilateral security pact including the US. "Defence Ministry officials were taken aback by the statement of the Australian Foreign Minister, reported by a section of media," senior Ministry officials said here Thursday. "Defence Ministry is also not keen on hopping on to any multilateral security constructs in the region excepting those under the UN flag or such broad-based arrangements as ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum," they added. But, the Ministry of External Affairs reacted in a more cautious manner saying, "We have seen media reports about the comments attributed to the Australian Foreign Minister.... We are not aware of any such proposal." Reports quoted Rudd as saying that a new trilateral pact bringing in India was worth exploring and the response from the Indian government has really been quite positive. Rudd's statement about a trilateral security pact has come a week before Australian Defence Minister Steven Smith's six-day visit to India starting December 7. During his visit to India, Smith is expected to discuss ways of expanding defence and strategic ties between the two countries. PTI