India Beset With Geopolitical Challenges, Especially From China: White House

"But India faces very significant challenges. China's behaviour on the Line of Actual Control has had a galvanising impact on India," said a White House official.

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New Delhi: The White House on Friday, released its first region-specific, Indo-Pacific Strategic Report. In its report, the White House stated that India is beset with significant geopolitical challenges, in particular from China and its behaviour on the Line of Actual Control. 

The region-specific report highlights the president's vision to firmly anchor the United States' position in the Indo-Pacific, strengthen the region and support India's rise and regional leadership in the process, reports news agency PTI.

"We will continue to build a strategic partnership in which the United States and India work together and through regional groupings to promote stability in South Asia; collaborate in new domains such as health, space, and cyberspace; deepen our economic and technology cooperation; and contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific," the White House said.

"We recognise that India is a like-minded partner and leader in South Asia and the Indian Ocean, active in and connected to Southeast Asia, a driving force of the Quad and other regional fora, and an engine for regional growth and development," the White House statement added.

However, a senior US official, on condition of anonymity, outlined the significant challenges New Delhi is persistently troubled with.

"But India faces very significant challenges. China's behaviour on the Line of Actual Control has had a galvanising impact on India. From our standpoint, we see tremendous opportunities in working with another democracy - with a country that has a maritime tradition that understands the importance of the global commons - to advance critical issues in the region, said the White House official.

"There is tremendous appreciation of the importance and the challenges of strengthening the engagement with India and a recognition that India is a critical strategic partner, and a desire to continue building on the very good work of previous administrations to significantly broaden and deepen that relationship,'' the official added.

Our Allies Bear Much Cost Of China’s Harmful Behaviour: Report 

Regarding China, the strategic report stated that it is combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might as it pursues a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world's most influential power.

The Chinese coercion and aggression spans the globe, but it is most acute in the Indo-Pacific, it said.

The report addressed China’s economic coercion of Australia to the dispute along the Line of Actual Control with India to the mounting pressure on Taiwan and bullying of neighbours in the East and South China Seas, “our allies and partners in the region bear much of the cost of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) harmful behaviour,” it said. 

The Report also highlighted China’s violation of human rights and international law, including freedom of navigation, as well as other principles that have brought stability and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific, the strategy said.

"Our collective efforts over the next decade will determine whether the PRC succeeds in transforming the rules and norms that have benefitted the Indo-Pacific and the world. For our part, the United States is investing in the foundations of our strength at home, aligning our approach with those of our allies and partners abroad, and competing with the PRC to defend the interests and vision for the future that we share with others," it said.

"We will strengthen the international system, keep it grounded in shared values, and update it to meet 21st-century challenges. Our objective is not to change China but to shape the strategic environment in which it operates, building a balance of influence in the world that is maximally favourable to the United States, our allies and partners, and the interests and values we share," it added.

Report relaeased as Quad Summit is underway

The strategic report was released at a time when the Quad Ministerial Summit is underway in Australia. Foreign ministers from Australia, India, Japan and the US on Friday expressed concerns over the malign Chinese role in the region.