China’s aggression on Blinken’s agenda
China’s rise and its aggressive global ambitions, including the ongoing Line of Actual Control (LAC) standoff in Ladakh, will be among key items on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s agenda when he meets his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar and NSA A K Doval on Wednesday.Jaishankar is expected to appraise Blinken about the current situation along the LAC, including the disengagement process, according to persons familiar with the matter. The big picture of China’s global aggression may be among the talking points.India and China are expected to make progress at the next round of Corp Commander level talks on disengagement at Gogra and Hot Spring flash points. India seeks comprehensive de-escalation of tensions.Washington views India as helping in US efforts to stand up to China’s increasingly assertive behaviour in Asia and beyond. Blinken’s trip follows a visit by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman to China and coincides with one to Southeast Asia by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as the USA seeks to bolster its presence in the Indo-Pacific region.China, during Sherman’s visit, accused the US of oppressing Beijing and urged Washington to remove sanctions and tariffs. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it was up to the US to “make the right choice.” He made the comments during talks with Sherman, who said Washington was not seeking conflict with China.Tensions between both countries have been high recently. Last week, China imposed sanctions on several US individuals and organisations, including former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.However, Chinese-state-run Global Times is of the opinion that India may not fully cooperate with the US on building an anti-China coalition. “While the US intends to seek support from India on a number of issues, the South Asian country may not be as cooperative, given the rising internal conflicts between the two sides concerning Afghanistan, vaccine distribution and human rights issues,” according to a Global Times report published on the eve of Blinken’s India trip.Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Monday “Seeing that India has common interests with the US on exerting influence in the Indo-Pacific region, Washington is trying to win over India to contain China.”However, Long Xingchun, a senior research fellow with the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Monday, “One of the major quarrels New Delhi and Washington are having is the US decision to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, which has left India’s investment in the region for the past 20 years hanging in the air.”Meanwhile in a fact sheet released on eve of Blinken visit, US State Dept noted that India is a leading global power and a key U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. The fact sheet also referred to defence ties. “U.S.-India defense cooperation is reaching new heights, including through information sharing, liaison officers, increasingly complex exercises like Malabar, and defense enabling agreements, such as the secure communications agreement COMCASA. As of 2020, the United States has authorized over $20 billion in defense sales to India. Through the U.S.-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative, the United States and India work together on co-production and co-development of defense equipment. The United States and India are also closely coordinating on regional security issues, such as Afghanistan.”
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