Washington: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brushed aside the notion that there was any "problem" in Indo-US ties pertaining to the recent visit of Nancy Pelosi to India and her stand on the Chinese crackdown on Tibet unrest.

In a joint appearance with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Rice said "... Let me first set aside the premise that there is some problem in Indo-US relations. I don't believe that there is."

Referring to the meeting between Pelosi, who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama last week, Rice said, "Speaker Pelosi spoke with the Dalai Lama as the President has spoken with the Dalai, most recently in October when he was here to receive a Congressional Medal of Honour, our highest civilian medal."

"He (Dalai) is somebody who is respected. The Speaker respects him. The President respects him. And at this particular point in time to have contact with him, I think, is a good thing, because he is a moderate voice on these issues and he is a voice that I hope the Chinese will listen to more," she said.

"I think in respect of Tibet, I have already expressed my views," was the terse response from Mukherjee when asked to comment.

Source : PTI