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Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Friday called Pakistan a "military dictatorship" as opposed to India - a "liberal democracy". Speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2025, Abbott said one of the biggest mistakes the US made during the Cold War was consistently "tilting towards Pakistan".

"One of the big mistakes that America made during the Cold War period was consistently tilting towards Pakistan - a military dictatorship, as opposed to India - a liberal democracy. For the last 20 years, Americans, very sensibly, have been trying to rectify that. I think this is a serious setback, but given the fundamental community of interests and values that India does have with the democracies, I think it landed a temporary setback," Abbott said.

"America's fundamental interests lie in a strong friendship with India compared to Pakistan. India's fundamental interests lie in a strong partnership with fellow democracies, much less than with dictatorships," he added.