India-US talks focus on China
new delhi — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence chief Mark Esper stepped up the Trump administration’s anti-China message in India on Tuesday, exactly a week ahead of America’s presidential election.
With President Donald Trump in a tight race for a second term against former vice-president Joe Biden, Pompeo and Esper sought to play on Indian suspicions about China to shore up a regional front against increasing Chinese ‘assertiveness’ in the Indo-Pacific region. They also lauded joint cooperation in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
In talks with their Indian counterparts, Pompeo and Esper signed an agreement expanding military satellite information sharing and highlighted strategic cooperation between Washington and New Delhi with an eye towards countering China. The two men paid tribute to Indian troops killed in defence of their country, including 20 who died earlier this year in an incident with China.
“The United States will stand with the people of India as they confront threats to their freedom and sovereignty.” Pompeo said, referring pointedly to ones posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
“Our leaders and our citizens see with increasing clarity that the CCP is no friend to democracy, the rule of law, transparency, nor to freedom of navigation — the foundation of a free and open and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” he said.
In a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pompeo and Esper discussed the coronavirus pandemic, security and defence cooperation, and “shared interests in a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said US principal deputy spokesperson Cale Brown.
Esper earlier said the two countries’ focus must now “be on institutionalising and regularising our cooperation to meet the challenges of the day and uphold the principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific well into the future.” That, he said, is particularly important “in light of increasing aggression and destabilising actions by China.”
Pompeo met late on Monday with Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar to laud “the strong partnership between the United States and India,” declaring it to be “critical to the security and prosperity of both countries, the Indo-Pacific region, and the world,” the State Department said in a statement.
Pompeo has made no secret of the Trump administration’s desire for India’s help in the US bid to isolate China. Since Trump became president, the US and India have steadily ramped up their military relationship. —