1. CANADA

1. CANADA

The Star, Toronto, April 7: By breaking with George W. Bush and downgrading the role the vast U.S. nuclear arsenal plays in the nation’s defense, U.S. President Barack Obama has surrendered nothing of America’s superpower status. His policy, unveiled at the Pentagon, is far more likely to strengthen U.S. security by reinforcing global efforts to combat nuclear proliferation and terrorism.

Those who fretted that Obama’s Nuclear Posture Review would leave the U.S. weaker than before ought to be reassured. It flatly reaffirms that nuclear forces will “continue to play an essential role” in deterring foes for a long time to come.

However, the NPR does nudge the U.S. a welcome few steps closer to the long-term vision Obama outlined in Prague last year of “a world without nuclear weapons.” It is a decisive and healthy break with the Bush era’s excessive reliance on the bomb as an instrument of foreign policy in the anxious years after the 9/11 attacks.

2. CHINA

China Daily, Beijing, April 7: To mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and India, top leaders of the two countries recently displayed strong political will to shelve differences and push bilateral ties to new heights. The ongoing visit by India’s Foreign Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna to Beijing is important for officials from both sides to carry out dialogue, build trust and establish cooperation.

China regards its relationship with India as one of its most important bilateral ties. The growth in their relationship in the past 60 years have made it possible for the two most populous countries to forge ahead with a long-term strategic partnership.

The two developing but emerging economies have been regarded as bright spots bringing hope of a full global economic recovery.By cooperating on regional and international affairs, the two countries will better safeguard each of their interests and those of the developing world at large.

3. BRITAIN

The Times, London, April 7: President Hamid Karzai’s astonishingly crude attacks on the U.S., after President Barack Obama’s first visit to Kabul, make patent the breakdown in relations between the two men. In a deliberately mendacious misreading of U.S. policy and strategy in Afghanistan, Karzai accused the West of perpetrating a “vast fraud” by trying to deny him victory in last year’s presidential election. He said that Afghans would trust their leader only if he showed he was not a puppet. And he gave a warning that if “foreign pressure” continued, he might even join the Taliban.

It is clear that the prickly and mercurial Afghan president was humiliated by Obama’s six-hour nighttime visit and furious ... at being ordered to do more to confront the corruption in his government.