China is hardening position along LAC: US
US secretary of defence gives second warning within a week on border situation
US secretary of defence Lloyd J. Austin said on Saturday that China has continued to harden its position along the Line of Actual Control with India. He was addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore.
This is second time this week that a senior US official has commented on India China stand-off. Earlier this week, the US Army’s Pacific commander, Gen. Charles A. Flynn, had said that Chinese activity near Ladakh was “eye-opening” and some of the infrastructure being created by the PLA was “alarming”. US defence secretary Austin said that China (People’s Republic of China, PRC) was also pushing limits in the East China Sea and South China Sea. “In the East China Sea, the PRC’s expanding fishing fleet is sparking tensions with its neighbours. In the South China Sea, the PRC is using outposts on man-made islands bristling with advanced weaponry to advance its illegal maritime claims,” he said. He said that the Indo-Pacific was at the heart of American grand strategy. “We’re also weaving closer ties with other partners. I’m especially thinking of India, the world’s largest democracy.
We believe that its growing military capability and technological prowess can be a stabilising force in the region,” Austin said.
He said that the US had increased exercise and training with its partners in the region. “Last spring, the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group rotated through the Indian Ocean. We conducted simultaneous joint operations with the Indian Navy and the IAF that integrated airpower and anti-submarine warfare,” he said.
Austin said that over the past 18 months, the US has helped to bring new vigour to the Quad grouping of four nations that also includes Australia and Japan. “That includes a third Quad leaders’ summit last month, bringing together four of the region’s largest producers of prosperity and security. As the Quad leaders have noted, they are eager to work with ASEAN and the Pacific Islands to advance our shared goals,” he said.
He pointed out that several European allies had been deploying to the IndoPacific — “and operating alongside our partners in the region in unprecedented ways.”