India is plagued with significant geopolitical challenges, from China and its behaviour on the Line of Actual Control, the White House has said, while releasing its Indo-Pacific Strategic Report.
The strategic report, released on Friday, is the President Joe Biden-led administration’s first region-specific report.
It restricts the president’s vision to firmly foothold the United States position in the Indo-Pacific, strengthens the region, and supports India’s rise and regional leadership in the process.
“We will continue to build a strategic partnership in which the United States and India work together and through regional togetherness to foster stability in South Asia; collaborate in new domains such as health, space, and cyberspace; deepen our economic and technology through combined efforts; and contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific, the White House said.
“We acknowledge that India is a harmonious partner and leader in South Asia and the Indian Ocean, active in and connected to Southeast Asia, a driving force of the Quad and other regional fora, and an engine for regional growth and development,” the White House statement added.
However, a senior US official said, on condition of confidentiality to not reveal the name, pointed out the significant challenges New Delhi is beset with.
“But India faces very significant challenges. China’s behaviour on the Line of Actual Control has had a galvanizing impact on India. From our standpoint, we see enormous opportunities in working with another democracy – with a country that has a maritime tradition that understands the importance of the global commons – to advance crucial issues in the region,” said the White House official.
“There is immense appreciation of the importance and the challenges of nourishing the engagement with India and a recognition that India is a critical strategic partner, and a desire to continue building on the very good work of previous administrations to significantly broaden and deepen that relationship,” the official said.
The official made the candid remarks while briefing reporters about the release of the new regional strategy. The senior administrator said the previous US administrations, including the previous one led by President Donald Trump, had done a great job in the Indo-Pacific region.
The strategic report was released as a Quad Ministerial is ongoing in Australia; foreign ministers from Australia, India, Japan and the US on Friday expressed concerns over the China’s hostile role in the region.
furthermore, the strategic report said, that China is combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might as it pursues a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world’s most authoritative power.
The Chinese penetration and aggression span the globe, but it is most critical in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
From the economic coercion of Australia to the conflict along the Line of Actual Control with India to the mounting pressure on Taiwan and threats of neighbours in the East and South China Seas, our allies and partners in the region bear much of the cost of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) detrimental behaviour.
The strategy States that China is also undermining human rights and international law, including freedom of navigation, as well as other principles that bring stability and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific.
“Our collective efforts over the next decade will determine whether the PRC succeeds in changing the rules and norms that benefit the Indo-Pacific and the world.
For our part, the United States is investing in the foundations of our strength at home, aligning our vision with those of our allies and partners abroad, and competing with the China to protect interests and vision for the future. competing is what we share with others, it said.
“We will strengthen the international order, keep it grounded in shared values, and update it to meet 21st-century challenges.
Our objective is not to change China but to shape the strategic environment in which it operates, building a balance of influence in the world that is maximally favourable to the United States, our allies and partners, and the interests and values we share. it spoke
Responding to a question, the senior official told reporters that the last four administrations have played an important role in improving relations with India.
“With respect to India, we very highlighted very clearly the importance of – the very important role that the last four administrations have played, which is a lot of American engagement, with the US. Very good relations and the US partnership is very close with India,” the official said.
“Obviously, India’s role in the QUAD I think is an essential element of it, including the ability to speak openly about issues in the region, essentially working together to deliver public goods that are in the region. Let’s address the challenges, and to scale up the ways in which we can coordinate,” the also official said.
The senior official said, India is in a very different place than Australia and other countries in many ways.
Published By: Jaspreet Singh
Edited By: Kritika Kashyap
