WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Mike pompeo on Friday he urged closer ties with India as he warned of China’s growing power at its doorstep amid a wave of diplomacy between the world’s two largest democracies.
“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 amassing huge forces against India in the north,” Pompeo told radio host Larry O’Connor.
“The world has awakened. The tide has begun to turn. And the United States, under the leadership of President Trump, has now built a coalition that will reject the threat,” he said.
Following the Tokyo meeting, Pompeo will shortly travel to New Delhi with the Secretary of Defense. Mark Esper for annual conversations with their Indian counterparts.
Under Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will also travel to India next week to prepare for the meeting, the state department said.
Tensions have skyrocketed between India and China since the violent hand-to-hand fighting in the Himalayan region of Ladakh in June that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
China has acknowledged having suffered casualties but has not released figures.
Citing national security reasons, New Delhi has since banned dozens of Chinese apps, including TikTok, the highly successful video-sharing platform that counted India as its largest foreign market.
Despite widespread concerns about China, India has historically moved away from formal alliances with outside powers under its doctrine of “strategic autonomy.”
When asked at the conservative Heritage Foundation about tensions with China, India’s ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, noted that the Asian powers had historical ties and welcomed scholars from each.
Ties between the United States and India have grown 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 boosting defense ties during Pompeo and Esper’s visit.
“I would stress that there is great additional potential for our defense cooperation,” he said.
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