Tillerson’s India visit: Deepening ties to contain China

NEW DELHI: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s two-day visit to India starting Tuesday is expected to deepen the new US policy in South Asia and explore possibilities for further engagement in the region in order to contain China’s expanding presence.
His visit follows that of US Defense Secretary James Mattis in September, demonstrating the growing significance America attaches to its ties with India.
New Delhi welcomed Tillerson’s policy statement last week at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, in which he praised India for acting responsibly in its international conduct.
In a speech titled “Defining Our Relationship with India for the Next Century,” he said: “China, while rising alongside India, has done so less responsibly, at times undermining the international, rules-based order — even as countries like India operate within a framework that protects other nations’ sovereignty.”
He called India “a reliable partner,” and criticized China for its “predatory economics” via the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.
Tillerson added: “China’s provocative actions in the South China Sea directly challenge the international law and norms that the US and India both stand for.”
On Friday, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: “We appreciate his (Tillerson’s) positive evaluation of the relationship, and share his optimism about its future directions.”
Kumar added that Tillerson “has made a significant policy statement on India-US relations and its future. He brought out its various strengths, and highlighted our shared commitment to a rules-based international order.”
Foreign Ministry sources told Arab News that cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region is high on the agenda of the talks.
“This convergence of interests between India and America isn’t new,” Manoj Joshi, a distinguished fellow at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told Arab News.
“We have problems with China and Pakistan, and as China’s military power is rising, the balance of power is shifting against us. To set it right, we need to build coalitions with the US and Japan… to make sure China behaves and plays by the rules of the game.”
But some dissenting voices in India feel uncomfortable with New Delhi’s tilt toward the US in a bid to contain China.
“The euphoria over the American embrace needs to be tempered,” Pratap Bhanu Mehta, vice chancellor of Ashoka University, wrote in the Indian Express.
Washington is firing “a salvo on China using India’s shoulders... it is risky for India, if India’s choices are consistently framed by the US in terms of a US narrative,” wrote Mehta.
“This, in a sense, risks hijacking India’s choices for American purposes and makes Indian power projection more difficult.”