India, Sept. 27 -- NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China last month and stressed the importance of cementing ties with India.

During an interaction at the US military academy West Point on Thursday (local time), Mark Rutte was asked how NATO perceived the meeting between leaders at the SCO summit in China.

Responding to the question, Rutte first spoke about the military parade where North Korea's Kim Jong Un, China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin made a public appearance, and dubbed the event a "military ballet". Rutte acknowledged the parade's significance but remarked that he wasn't particularly impressed.

He then pointed to PM Narendra Modi's visit to China, saying, "And ...