US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, currently on a two-day visit to India, met his counterpart Rajnath Singh on Monday. The two held talks on strengthening bilateral defence cooperation as well as security of the Indo-Pacific region and the China threat in New Delhi’s neighbourhood.
During a joint presser after the meeting, Austin was quizzed regarding Chinese misadventure around the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“I don’t want to get into speculation…a number of things can always happen. I want to make sure we do everything we can to ensure things don’t happen. And part of that is to communicate with each other and prevent any incidents from escalating out of control,” said Austin.
India-China relations continue to deteriorate
Since 2020, the relationship between India and China has remained frosty, primarily due to Beijing’s incursion along the border areas. Though China has attempted to intrude into Indian territories for years, it was the Galwan Valley standoff in 2020 that really deteriorated the relations.
Both countries have held more than a dozen rounds of military talks but to no avail. In 2021, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in its annual report stated that China’s attempt to change the status quo had impacted the bilateral relationship.
In March, US media reports claimed that Washington provided intel to India to thwart the Chinese threat along the border last year.
The reports claimed that the US government, for the first time, provided real-time insights to their Indian counterparts. The details helped India neutralise the incursion attempts by the PLA troops in Northeastern India’s Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang Sector.
“India was able to repel a Chinese military incursion in contested border territory in the high Himalayas late last year due to unprecedented intelligence-sharing with the US military,” read one of the reports.
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During the same presser, Austin was probed if the US was attempting to establish NATO forces in the region, to which he gave a definitive answer.
“We are absolutely not trying to establish a NATO in the Indo-Pacific. We continue to work with like-minded countries to ensure that the region remains free and open so that commerce can prosper and ideas can continue to be exchanged,” said Austin.
“India and US share the same vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. We want to make sure that we do everything we can to ensure that things don’t happen,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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