Hillary Clinton visited Israel as the Final Halt of her Trip to Asia

Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, visited Israel on 16 July 2012 as the last halt of her 13-day long visit of eight Asian countries including Afghanistan, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Egypt and Israel. The Clinton's itinerary marked a blatant shift in US diplomacy viz a viz  Asian continent as it not only included the allies like Japan and Israel but also included Countries like Laos and Vietnam, the countries with whom US has always been on hostile terms.

During her visit to Israel Hillary Clinton discussed a range of issues with the leaders of the country. Issues like Iran’s nuclear programme and political transition In Egypt figured out prominently in the bilateral dialogue. Resolution to stop violent struggle in Syria was also discussed during the meeting. As UN observer mission's mandate in Syria coming on to an end on 20 July 2012 and she also asked for a new resolution to renew it.

Ahead of her trip to Israel Clinton visited Egypt, where she held a meeting with the head of Egypt's military leadership, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, whose military council is at loggerheads with newly elected President Mohamed Morsy.

Hillary Clinton also chose to visit Mongolia and Laos in the course of her 13-day long trip, where she was the first US secretary of state to visit in 57 years and only the second ever. From the diplomatic perspective the trip was highly successful as the US not only redefined its future political strategy in Asia but also endeavored to make some new friends in the region. Many international politics experts believe that the trip is an indication of US’ serious attempt to rebalance power equation in the continent, which seems to be tilting in China’s favor. To contain China’s increasing strength, US are trying to gain firm ground in the continent and the Hillary’s trip certainly proved to be a great success in this regard.