May 25, 2008 Blair calls for partnerships with China, India

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair has told Yale University graduates that countries such as China and India are becoming more powerful and partnerships will be needed to avoid conflict.

Blair, the Class Day speaker Sunday, said that for the first time in many centuries, power is moving East. In next two decades the two countries will undergo industrialization four times the size of the United States and at five times the speed, he said.

Americans and Europeans must forge partnerships rather than compete for power, he said.

Blair continued a Yale tradition in which graduation speakers typically don't speak at commencements. The major speech to seniors is instead given the previous day during Class Day festivities.

The former prime minister, now the International Mideast peace envoy, plans to teach at Yale next year. He is to lead a seminar on issues of faith and globalization.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)