Mike Pompeo said China had “started to gather huge forces against India in the north” (File)
Washington:
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday called for closer ties with India, warning of China’s growing power at his doorstep, amid a wave of diplomacy between the country’s two largest democracies. world.
“They absolutely need the United States to be their ally and partner in this fight,” Pompeo said of his four-way meetings earlier this week in Tokyo with his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia.
“The Chinese have now started to gather huge forces against India in the north,” Pompeo told radio host Larry O’Connor.
“The world has woken up. The tide has started to turn. And the United States, under President Trump’s leadership, has now built a coalition that will repel the threat,” he said.
After the Tokyo meeting, Pompeo will soon travel to New Delhi with Defense Secretary Mark Esper for annual talks with their Indian counterparts.
Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will also be visiting India next week to prepare for the meeting, the State Department said.
Tensions have soared between India and China since heavy hand-to-hand fighting in the Himalayan region of Ladakh in June that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
China admitted to having suffered losses but did not reveal any figures.
Citing national security reasons, New Delhi has since banned dozens of Chinese apps, including TikTok, the successful video-sharing platform that relied on India as its largest foreign market.
Despite broad concerns about China, India has historically avoided formal alliances with outside powers under its doctrine of “strategic autonomy”.
Asked the conservative Heritage Foundation about tensions with China, Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu stressed that Asian powers have historical ties and welcomed academics.
US-Indian relations have developed rapidly and “this relationship has a much broader perspective than just China,” Sandhu said.
But he said he expected India and the United States to discuss strengthening defense ties when Pompeo and Esper visit.
“I would like to stress that there is great additional potential for our defense cooperation,” he said.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
