The Indo-Pacific Strategic Report released by the White House states that India is going to face significant geopolitical challenges, particularly from China and its behaviour on the Line of Actual Control.
The strategic report was released on Friday (February 11), and it outlines president Joe Biden’s vision to firmly anchor the United States’ position in the Indo-Pacific and support 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 groupings to promote stability in South Asia; collaborate in new domains such as health, space, and cyberspace; deepen our economic and technology cooperation; and contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific,’ the White House said.
‘We recognise that India is a like-minded 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, on condition of anonymity, 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 tremendous opportunities in working with another democracy – with a country that has a maritime tradition that understands the importance of the global commons – to advance critical issues in the region,” said the White House official.
‘There is tremendous appreciation of the importance and the challenges of strengthening 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.
This report was released when foreign ministers from Australia, India, Japan and the US held a Quad meeting on Friday expressed concerns over the malign Chinese role in the region.
The report clearly states that China is combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might to gain influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world’s most influential power and coercion and aggression is the name tactic to achive this objective
China has used economic coercion against Australia, against India it has maintained pressure along the Line of Actual Control and has been constantly bullying Taiwan and other neighbours in the East and South China Seas.
The report clearly mentions that American allies and partners in the region are suffering from the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) harmful behaviour as China undermines human rights and international law, including freedom of navigation, as well as other principles that have brought stability and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific, the strategy said.
‘Our collective efforts over the next decade will determine whether the PRC succeeds in transforming the rules and norms that have benefitted the Indo-Pacific and the world. For our part, the United States is investing in the foundations of our strength at home, aligning our approach with those of our allies and partners abroad, and competing with the PRC to defend the interests and vision for the future that we share with others,’ it said.
‘We will strengthen the international system, 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 added.
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