India awaits US’ national strategy on China

The US will soon come up with the national security strategy “to deal with the emergence of China as a great power”. With the strategy on China likely to be made public ahead of the Quad leaders’ summit on 24 May in Japan, India is keenly waiting for this plan of the Biden administration. “India is expecting it to be announced days before the possible bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Tokyo on the sidelines of the Quad, during which the issues related to China’s belligerence may come up,” highly-placed officials told The Daily Guardian. “The Biden administration’s plan to come up with this strategy also suggests that the US is now trying to shift its focus back on China amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine,” officials added.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced that he will detail a long-awaited national security strategy to deal with the emergence of China as a great power. “I will have an opportunity I think, very soon in the coming weeks to speak publicly and in some detail about the strategy,” Blinken said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

Diplomatic sources familiar with the meetings in Washington told this newspaper: “The US strategy is set to look into various aspects that highlight China’s belligerence and assertive activities in the Indo-Pacific and other geographies. It will deal with the big Chinese diplomatic and strategic challenges apart from the economic issues related to Beijing.” “The US must have taken note of the inputs from India on China’s growing influence in the region, which External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has been sharing with Secretary Blinken during several talks and meetings,” sources add. Sources in touch with the American diplomats said that “Free and Open Indo Pacific in the backdrop of growing influence of China in the region will be high on the agenda during the Quad summit in Japan, and the Biden administration’s strategy could be providing crucial inputs enabling leaders to discuss China factor.” “It is expected that Blinken will share the strategy to tackle emergence of China by 15 May so that the officials could analyse the details and include some of the inputs in the agenda for the Quad,” officials add. “India is eagerly waiting for the US’ strategy to be announced, and the officials will be discussing the details regarding China,” an official said. The Biden administration understandably believes that violation of international laws in the marine domain and on land by China is really a serious problem that the entire global community, including the Quad members, should look into and find a solution to.