New Delhi: Three days before President Donald Trump's first ever presidential visit to India, a key US Congress panel on Friday, deliberated on the critical importance of India to thwart growing Chinese military ambitions in the Indian Ocean region as well as for the need to push for India's leadership.
"The United States needs to continue to tighten its maritime cooperation with India and encourage continued regional leadership by Delhi on maritime security and domain awareness," Gregory B. Poling, director, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said in his testimony to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC).
Emphasising that the Indo-Pacific region will be a big flashpoint for conflicting US-Chinese interests, Chad Sbragia, deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, said it is important that alliances are strengthened. He testified: "…to strengthen alliances, deepen interoperability, and attract new partners. Our treaty allies remain a key asymmetric advantage vis-à-vis China in the Indo-Pacific region. They are integral to upholding the free and open order through diplomatic activities and combined training, exercises, and operations."
Created by the US Congress in 2000, the USCC has to recommend measures to the Congress to take care of security concerns arising due to the US-China bilateral trade and economic relationship. Friday's hearing is on 'China's Military Power Projection and US National Interests'.
Read: Indo-US pact will be harbinger of American killer drones to India
In recognition of the importance of according the strategic partner status to India and with the dawning realisation that the Indian bulwark is critical to withstand the growing Chinese military power in the region, the US had renamed its 'Asia-Pacific' command as 'Indo-Pacific' command.
Another member, Isaac B. Kardon, assistant professor, US Naval War College, told the Congress panel about the China-Pakistan link. He said in his testimony: "Pakistan stands out as a country where China's extraordinarily close political, military, and economic ties make it a prime candidate for expansion of PLAN (Chinese Navy) operations."
Cambodia, like Pakistan and North Korea, is among the countries most likely to cooperate in non-public ways with Beijing to provide reliable military access to the PLA.
While Djibouti is the only officially confirmed overseas base of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), there is a growing body of evidence of the PLA collaborating in Cambodia.
Earlier this month, Australian media reported the possession of a secret document that proved the presence of a Chinese military facility including a "satellite navigation and positioning reference station" in Siem Reap Province of Cambodia.
"An air base in Cambodia would allow it to project power over southern Vietnam, Bangkok, the Gulf of Thailand, the Strait of Malacca, and the eastern Indian Ocean. Djibouti and Cambodia both provide clear examples of the worrying links between Chinese economic influence and military access in developing states," Poling stated.
Kardon in his testimony quoted an analyst from the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences who said that "India is extremely sensitive about China-Pakistan cooperation. Despite the fact that China has repeatedly emphasized that Gwadar port is a civilian project, India has long suspected that China will someday build Gwadar port into a military base. Other proposed locations surrounding India (the Maldives, Seychelles, Bangladesh) pose similar geopolitical problems for China in terms of balancing from India, Japan, and the US."
Read: In hypersonic arms age, are India's S-400 and IADWS military buys worth it?
