Strong India to counterbalance China’s aggression: US files

New Delhi: Days ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden as the US President, the Donald Trump administration declassified a sensitive document on the US strategic framework for the Indo-Pacific which asserted that a strong India would act as a “counterbalance” to China and signalled that the US would bolster India against China’s aggression along LAC.

The US strategy for the Indo-Pacific, framed in 2018, envisaged bolstering India’s capacities so that it could join hands with other like-minded countries, Australia and Japan, to act as “a counterbalance to China” and maintain the capacity to counter challenges from China such as “border provocations” and access to cross-border rivers. The document also claimed that the US would support India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group and work “with India toward domestic economic reform”.

The goal of the strategy, it said, was India-US cooperation to “preserve maritime security and counter Chinese influence in South and Southeast Asia and other regions of mutual concern”. It said the US also aimed to support creation of a maritime information fusion centre in the Indian Ocean, establish a regional forum to promote common principles and standards. and establish a new initiative with South Asian partners modelled on the Maritime Security Initiative in Southeast Asia. However, a number of sentences in the document have been redacted. Experts said the document was declassified in order to give a policy direction to the incoming Biden presidency.

The US aims to help India become a net security provider in the region, solidify a lasting strategic partnership with India “underpinned by a strong Indian military able to effectively collaborate” with the US and its regional partners, according to the declassified document.