McCully meets Hillary Clinton in DC

United States State Secretary Hillary Clinton says New Zealand punches above its weight in the international arena and the US wants to learn from it.

Her comments followed a meeting with Foreign Minister Murray McCully in Washington DC.

Mrs Clinton said New Zealand and the US shared democratic values and historical, economic and cultural ties.

The US was looking for New Zealand to "really lead the way" with climate change and clean energy, and to help Pacific Island nations move away from their dependence on imported fuels.

"I thanked the foreign minister for New Zealand's leadership in the aftermath of last week's Pacific tsunami."

New Zealand was also a "full partner at the table" in Afghanistan, Mrs Clinton said.

"The SAS are among the very best deployed.

"We want to learn from, we want New Zealand to take the lead in this review that we're undergoing to determine how we can best deploy not just American assets, but international assets, and most importantly, Afghan assets," she said.

The US was "committed" to Afghanistan and was grateful for New Zealand's contribution.

"I could go on and on, but the list is long and the model that New Zealand represents, its commitment to playing an international role, punching above its weight, so to speak, is something that we highly value."

Mr McCully said New Zealand's relationship with the US was in "great shape".

He thanked the US for so often being asked to "step up and bear a disproportionate share of the burden of doing difficult things in the world".

"I also took the opportunity to thank the secretary of state for the leadership that the United States provides so many areas if world activity that are so important to New Zealand."

- NZPA