Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton smiles as she arrives to sign copies of her book "Hard Choices" at a Costco store in Arlington, Virginia
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton smiles as she arrives to sign copies of her book "Hard Choices" at a Costco store in Arlington, Virginia June 14, 2014. Reuters/Joshua Roberts

Hillary Clinton called Canada as an "indispensable partner" of the United States on the world stage.

The former U.S. secretary of state gave a lunchtime speech to a business audience at the Toronto Region Board of Trade at the Sheraton hotel in Canada. "Many Americans may take our relationship with Canada for granted, but I don't," Clinton said, "We need more partners and fewer adversaries and we can never take a trusted friend for granted."

Clinton is presently in Canada to promote "Hard Choices," her latest book which was released recently, CTV News reported. The 656-page memoir is about her time in the State Department. She made many "hard choices" during her tenure but probably the hardest one was to accept the responsibilities. CBC News reported that Clinton had felt "agonised" when she was offered to be the secretary of state by U.S. President Barack Obama. She talked about the tense moments she had experienced on the night Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALS.

Obama was Clinton's opponent in the Democratic presidential primaries. They had serious nomination campaigns launched against each other. Clinton said that the first meeting between them after Obama had been elected as the U.S. president was like an "awkward first date" between teenagers. Clinton remained hesitant to accept the job even though the president kept insisting. Clinton was more eager to continue her Senate work. Clinton eventually agreed to accept the offer. "When your president asks you to serve, I think you should," she said, "I thought, suppose the tables had been reversed and I had won, and I was asking him to be in my cabinet."

The former U.S. first lady expressed her admiration for Ontario politician Kathleen Wynne who lately won an unforeseen majority in the provincial election. She said that Wynne had "a very positive, agenda-driven campaign on her part" as she was "ready to make a lot of changed."

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au