In a meeting in the Indian capital on Monday, US Secretary of Defense Mark Asper and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh discussed “military-to-military cooperation” and the upcoming Malabar naval exercise, a statement from the Indian Ministry of Defense said.
The statement also indicated that the two sides would sign a Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) to enable greater geo-spatial information-sharing.
The Malabar exercise, to be held in the Indian Ocean next month, will feature all members of the Quad, the so-called informal alliance of the US, India, Japan and Australia-Australia, referred to by some as potential “Asian” NATO, “intending to counter Chinese military strength in the region.” Is.
At a meeting of the Quad in Tokyo earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo protested against the “coverup of the Chinese Communist Party” in the early stages of the coronavirus epidemic, saying “now it is more serious than ever that we will cooperate.” , Protect against corruption and coercion. “
A senior Rajya Sabha official told reporters after the meeting that “no one stays away from the fact that China and its actions in the region make the quad really important and work around this time.”
The official said, “Beijing’s regional neighbors were concerned about the sudden turn towards aggressive measures taken by the Chinese government across its perimeter, and especially the ongoing tensions between India and China over their shared border in the Himalayas.
Pompeo, who arrived in Delhi this week, said in a statement before the tour that the partnership between the US and India was “crucial to the security and prosperity of both countries, the Indo-Pacific region and the world.”
In a separate statement, he said, “We are enhancing cooperation between our two armies. This includes our navies, which play a vital role in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific,” he said in a separate statement. Emerges as a nation a leading regional and global power. ”
India has long sought to balance relations with Washington and Beijing, with which it shares 2,100 miles (3,379 kilometers) of disputed border. The border has become a hotbed of tension this year after dozens of soldiers were killed in a bloody clash between Indian and Chinese troops in June.
According to a joint statement issued by the defense chiefs, the signing of the BECA agreement will give New Delhi joint access to geographic intelligence, potentially improving the accuracy of the Indian weapons system along the border.
Last month, both India and China accused the other of blatantly violating the de facto border, the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and dislocation efforts became contentious, although on September 21 both sides agreed to stop sending more troops to the disputed area. . .
However, the Chinese state media has not stopped continuing the railways against India due to that attempt at dislocation.
“Whether the U.S. administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy is widely considered to be in China, New Delhi will enthusiastically jump on Washington’s bandwagon, whether it will act as a weather barrier to the future of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy,” the state-run newspaper China The Daily said in a comment earlier this month, later republished through the People’s Liberation Army’s official website.
“A border clash with China could motivate India to move closer to the US side so that it can benefit more from its negotiations with China. But, following the US leadership, it will push closer to a head-on conflict with China.” , “He added.
In another comment this week, the state news agency Xinhua condemned the upcoming Malabar exercise, saying it was evidence that the quad was “reducing military and security cooperation to self-serve political interests.”
Xinhua said quad members need to realize that trying to provoke competition in the region is against the trend of the time and will not be accepted by major countries around the world. “Efforts to advocate the Cold War mentality of some countries and create chaos in the region will only keep themselves in check.”
Writing on Twitter In response to an Indian media article on Tuesday, Chinese diplomat Lee Bijia was asked how Delhi should embrace Quad, “Do you know what will happen after playing with fire?”
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