The United States and India are united against China’s “aggression”, the USdefence secretary said Tuesday after top level talks between key ministersfrom the two countries.
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo madeChina the focus of their meeting with India’s foreign and defence ministersas the South Asian nation confronts China on their disputed Himalayanborder.
“We stand shoulder to shoulder, in support of a free and open Indo-Pacificfor all, particularly in light of increasing aggression and destabilisingactivities by China,” said Esper after the meeting.
Pompeo said there were “robust discussions about the Chinese CommunistParty”, which he added was “no friend to democracy, the rule of law,transparency, nor to freedom of navigation”.
India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh did not mention China by name during the meeting,but the foreign minister said peace was only possible when all countriesrespect “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states”.
He also called for a “multi-polar Asia” albeit where China is the numberone economic and military force.
– Data deal –
The United States and India signed off on a series of accords including onewhich will allow the US military to share sensitive satellite and sensordata with its Indian counterparts.
This will help New Delhi to better use US technology in targeting missilesand placing its troops.
It will also allow the United States to provide the latest navigationaltechnology on any fighter jets it supplies to India.
Esper has been pressing the case for India to buy US F-18 jets and moveaway from its reliance on Russian weaponry.
But India wants more of its military equipment made domestically and isdemanding greater investment.
Pompeo and Esper had already called for a deeper relationship duringone-on-one talks with their Indian counterparts on Monday.
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Jaishankar tweeted after his meetings with Pompeo that relations betweenthe emerging allies have “grown substantially”.
Esper and Singh “welcomed the expansion of information-sharing”, a USstatement said, while the Indian Defence Ministry reported the twoofficials had discussed “potential new areas of cooperation”, withoutgiving details.
Relations with China have grown increasingly tense for both the UnitedStates and India in recent years.
Washington is in a tense trade battle with Beijing and President DonaldTrump’s administration has stepped up warnings about China’s growingeconomic and military power.
India has sought greater international military support since a deadlyborder showdown with China in June. At least 20 Indian soldiers were killedin the clash. China has acknowledged it also suffered casualties.
Both sides have since sent tens of thousands of troops to their disputedfrontier in the Ladakh region and are digging in for a long, hard winter inthe freezing high-altitude area.
India is shopping for US cold-weather equipment, officials said, and hasalso agreed to expand naval manoeuvres in the Indian Ocean next month toinclude Australia.
Traditionally, the MALABAR exercises have involved India, the United Statesand Japan.
US officials have said they want the four-nation so-called “Quad” allianceto be given a more permanent structure, in moves that China’s foreignministry said it had “noted”.
For Pompeo, India was the first leg of a tour also taking him to Sri Lanka,the Maldives and Indonesia. China’s growing investment and influence in SriLanka and the Maldives have sparked concern in Washington and Delhi.
Ahead of the visit, Beijing’s embassy in Colombo warned Pompeo not to”coerce and bully” Sri Lanka against China. -APP/AFP
