US Secretary Of State Invites India To Cooperate In Facing China's Threat

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - United States Secretary of State (US) Mike Pompeo, invited Indian leaders to work together to face threats from China in the security and freedom fields. Pompeo conveyed this while visiting India on Monday, October 26.

Pompeo visited India with US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper for the annual strategic dialogue. The US visit to India comes amid mounting tensions between Indian forces and Chinese troops on the disputed Himalayan border.

"Today is a new opportunity for two great democracies like us to grow closer," Pompeo said before talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.

“There is definitely more work to be done. We have a lot to discuss today: Our cooperation in dealing with the pandemic that originated in Wuhan, to confront the Chinese Communist Party's threat to security and freedom to promote peace and stability across the region, "said Pompeo.

US President Donald Trump has taken a particularly tough stance on China as a key part of his campaign to secure his second term. Meanwhile Pompeo has sought to support several countries that are fighting Chinese influence in their region.

In June, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in clashes with Chinese troops on the highland border. This strengthened the cool atmosphere of India and China and encouraged the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pursue closer military ties with the US.

This month, India invited Australia to join naval exercises it holds annually with the US and Japan. The exercises are opposed by China but India dismissed concerns that they are destabilizing the region.

Raising support

In the India-US cooperation, they have signed a number of agreements. One of them is the provision of advanced US satellite access and advanced map data to improve the accuracy of Indian missile and drone launches.

"Our focus now should be on institutionalizing and organizing our cooperation to meet today's challenges and upholding the principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific in the future," Esper said.

After India, Pompeo plans to visit Sri Lanka and the Maldives. As is known, the two countries have received infrastructure development financing from China. This certainly makes India and the US wary.

Finally, to be more precise in the run-up to the US election, Pompeo plans to visit Indonesia. It was alleged that the visit was to discuss the polemic of the South China Sea dispute.