Hillary Clinton denies that she has been elbowed out

'Invisible' Secretary of State returns after arm injury

Catherine Philp in Washington

A poignant photograph taken at the White House last month shows Hillary Clinton standing alone by a colonnade as she watches a press conference between President Obama and his South Korean counterpart. Was she feeling left out? If not, she soon would be.

The next day she fell heavily in the basement of the State Department, shattering her elbow and consigning herself to intensive physical therapy that would force her to miss some of the most important foreign visits yet undertaken by the Administration, including President Obama’s landmark visit to Moscow.

This week, Mrs Clinton shed her sling and re-emerged on the global stage, delivering a high-profile foreign policy overview at the Council of Foreign Relations before departing on a key trip to India and Pakistan yesterday. In the months ahead she will embark on her own trip to Russia.