MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-10-25 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] anti-chinese alliance
|
U.S., India Expected to Sign Military Pact as China Prompts Closer Ties
Rajesh Roy in New Delhi and William Mauldin in Washington
6-8 minutes
The U.S. and India are expected to sign a key military agreement this
week, bolstering cooperation in the Pacific and Indian oceans to counter
an increasingly assertive China, Indian officials said.
A senior U.S. defense official didn’t confirm the planned signing, but
cited significant progress. He also said the pact, known as the Basic
Exchange and Cooperation Agreement, or Beca, would “allow for expanded
geospatial-information sharing between our armed forces.”
India’s cabinet, which met under Prime Minister Narendra Modi early last
week, approved the draft pact, setting the stage for a formal signing,
according to two Indian government officials privy to the development.
The pact would give India access to advanced American map and satellite
imagery, enhancing the accuracy of automated weapons, drones and
missiles, the Indian officials said.
Besides India, Mr. Pompeo is visiting Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia.
The enhanced cooperation with New Delhi comes at a time of heightened
tensions between India and China along their Himalayan border, where the
nuclear-armed neighbors have deployed tens of thousands of troops with
artillery since a deadly hand-to-hand clash in mid-June.
“In the current scenario of the border standoff with China, geospatial
intelligence and real-time images will be crucial for us,” said one of
the Indian officials.
Indian army vehicles in the disputed region of eastern Ladakh on Sept. 7.
Photo: farooq khan/Shutterstock
Mr. Modi’s efforts to strengthen ties with partner countries—especially
the others in what is called the Quad group, Australia, Japan and the
U.S.—are aligning with the Trump administration’s much more assertive
approach to China, said Harsh V. Pant, head of strategic affairs at
Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, which describes itself as a
nonpartisan, independent research organization that promotes a “strong
and prosperous India in a fair and equitable world.”
“The fact that the U.S. is spending so much diplomatic capital on
enhancing ties with India when an election is a week away underscores
the growing maturity of Indo-U.S. engagement and the fact that China’s
rise is a challenge that cannot wait for the electoral cycle to get
over,” said Mr. Pant.
The U.S. and India have grown closer over the past two decades, starting
with a landmark political deal that legitimized India’s nuclear arsenal
and opened the door to sales of civilian nuclear technology from the U.S.
From essentially zero dollars in defense cooperation in 2008, India-U.S
bilateral defense trade has grown to more than $20 billion in 2020,
according to the State Department. American aviation and aerospace
companies such as Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. , as well as U.S.
suppliers of arms and ammunition, have pursued business opportunities in
India.
During the first “2+2” dialogue of top defense and foreign-policy
officials in 2018, the two countries signed an agreement to allow the
sharing of encrypted military intelligence. The two nations have also
signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement, which permits
their respective militaries to replenish materiel and fuel from each
other’s bases.
Still, India has traditionally emphasized its nonaligned status, and
most experts don’t think New Delhi is likely to become an official
treaty ally of the U.S. in the same way as Australia, Japan or South Korea.
“The U.S. and India will need to craft their security partnership in a
way that it stays out of the alliance system,” said Michael Kugleman,
senior South Asia expert at the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan Washington
policy think tank chartered by Congress. “The Quad offers one such
pathway: It binds together four like-minded nations that are
increasingly willing to engage in maritime cooperation.”
The U.S. is also looking for better maritime cooperation with island
countries in the Pacific and Indian Oceans as China seeks to press its
own claims and boost Beijing’s influence through its Belt and Road
initiative, focused on building infrastructure and trade.
“We are enforcing what has been long known as international law and
preventing folks from trying to dominate or monopolize access to any
particular area,” said David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for
the Asia-Pacific, told reporters Thursday.
After New Delhi, Mr. Pompeo is set to visit Colombo, the largest city in
Sri Lanka, and meet Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, a politician seen
as friendly to China.
“We encourage Sri Lanka to review the options we offer for transparent
and sustainable economic development in contrast to discriminatory and
opaque practices,” said Dean Thompson, a State Department official
overseeing South and Central Asian affairs.
Then Mr. Pompeo has a stop in Male, the capital of the Maldives, an
island country in the Indian Ocean. The visit comes just weeks after
Maldivian and U.S. defense officials signed a cooperation agreement.
Mr. Pompeo will then meet President Joko Widodo in Jakarta. The Trump
administration has sought to defend the maritime and fishing claims of
Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations against competing claims by
China.
“Rules provide the grease between countries so we don’t have unfortunate
incidents,” Mr. Stilwell said. “So again, our support for not just
Indonesia but all the claimant states in Southeast Asia and pretty much
everywhere provides that, prevents instability and conflict.”
—Nancy Youssef contributed to this article.
--
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