NEW DELHI (INDIA) – US Secretary of State of Mike Pompeo will visit India next week to bolster ties with New Delhi which is locked in a military standoff with Beijing over a disputed frontier in the Himalayas. This is the latest bid by Washington to boost allies and counter the rising clout of China in the region.
To counter China’s growing economic and military power in the Indian Ocean, Pompeo will also visit Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The two countries are struggling with a huge pile of Chinese debt incurred to fund infrastructure facilities.
He will wind up his trip before the US presidential election with a visit to Indonesia, which is also locked in a dispute with China in the South China Sea.
“We’re looking forward to strengthening critical relationships with our friends and partners, emphasizing our deep commitment to the Indo-Pacific and advancing our vision for long-term partnership and prosperity in the region,” said Dean Thompson, principal deputy assistant secretary at the State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.
Earlier this month, Pompeo had led a meeting of foreign ministers from India, Japan and Australia in Tokyo, a group which goes by the moniker Quad. It could be a bulwark against Chinese clout.
“This is more about real foreign policy than domestic politics,” said Greg Poling, maritime security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
“Yes, Pompeo’s anti-China rhetoric is largely about the election, but State’s broader push to strengthen the Quad, tighten relations with Taiwan, heighten attention on the South China Sea and more, are being driven as much by the policy professionals as the politicians.”
India will host ‘Malabar’, the biggest naval drill in years, next month with the participation of other Quad members. In the past, China has opposed this exercise.
The military drill comes at a time when it is locked in a military stand-off with China on the disputed border in the Himalayas.
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday the US was using bullying tactics over countries to make them pick sides over their ties with Beijing, but such efforts would not succeed.
Pompeo will be joined by Defense Secretary Mark Esper during his trip and India is expected to ink an agreement that gives it access to sensitive US satellite data to help hone its targeting of missiles and drones.
“There is great further potential in our defence cooperation,” an Indian official said.
In what is seen as a first visit by a US Secretary of State to Sri Lanka in more than a decade, Pompeo will advise Lankan leaders to scale back their dependence on China, which has pumped in billions of dollars to build ports and highways in the island nation, leaving Colombo in debt.
“We urge Sri Lanka to make difficult but necessary decisions to secure its economic independence for long-term prosperity,” Thompson added.
Sri Lanka is a key component of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. But in recent years, Colombo has sought to foster ties with India, Japan and the US.
There are similar efforts to counter Chinese influence in the Maldives, which lies on key shipping lines.
His visit to Indonesia comes at a time when US-China rivalry is at its heights, especially in the South China Sea, which China claims as its territorial waters. It is opposed by many nations in the region, including Indonesia.