India-US partnership strengthens

The 2+2 dialog with the US Secretaries of State and Defense means closer ties

This column was published by Rediff on Nov 2nd at https://www.rediff.com/news/column/china-has-driven-india-into-americas-arms/20201102.htm

Here’s an excerpt:

In the thick of a heated Presidential election campaign, it was remarkable that the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper made a swing through Asia, visiting not only India, but also Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The signal was that the US commits to its new “Indo-Pacific” tilt, regardless of who wins the election. It was also meant as a warning to China, which is either making inroads into these countries (Sri Lanka, Maldives), or quarreling with them (India, Indonesia, Vietnam).

There is reason for scepticism. The 2011 “pivot to Asia” by President Obama’s team came to naught, and Asians watched in disbelief as America did absolutely nothing while China captured almost the entire South China Sea. In effect, China called Obama’s bluff, and it was a serious foreign policy blunder by him.

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See https://www.rediff.com/news/column/china-has-driven-india-into-americas-arms/20201102.htm for more.