India-US military exercises none of China’s business, says US CDA
NEW DELHI: Military exercises by India and the US are none of China’s business and Washington will back New Delhi’s efforts to develop its capabilities to face regional challenges, the seniormost American diplomat in India said on Friday.
The recent meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the margins of the G20 Summit in Bali doesn’t signal a rapprochement and there shouldn’t be any concerns about the US diluting its relationship with India or its commitment to the Indo-Pacific, chargé d’affaires Elizabeth Jones told reporters.
Her comments came a day after India too rejected China’s opposition to an India-US joint military
exercise being held near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and said New Delhi does not give a veto to any third country on such matters.
“On the exercises and China’s comment on it, I would point you to the kind of statements that we’ve heard from our Indian colleagues to the effect that it’s really none of their business,” Jones said in response to a question on China’s opposition to the Yudh Abhyas exercise conducted at Auli in Uttarakhand, 100 km from the
LAC. The Chinese foreign ministry contended the drills violate border management agreements signed in 1993 and 1996.
Asked what the US can do to help India face challenges from China, Jones said: “This is something for India to talk about. Our interest is in supporting India’s efforts to become more capable and to ensure that its capacities are directed in ways they [India] believe to be important. It’s up to the Indian leadership to determine what it wants and what it needs, and we’re there to be supportive.”
In response to a question on what the US is doing to push Pakistan to act against the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Jones said: “The US government has spent a lot of time with the governments of India and Pakistan in discussing the appropriate consequences of this,” she said.