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China-India relations
This Week in AsiaPolitics

As India eyes US military deal, neutrality on China takes back seat

  • Some of the Indian government’s recent strategic decisions may be an indication of a wholesale policy change towards Beijing
  • Much of the change stems from New Delhi’s growing frustration over its border stand-off with Beijing, and has it considering stronger ties with the US

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A woman holds a photograph of Chinese President Xi Jinping as Indian demonstrators gather for a protest near the Chinese embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the 1962 war between the two countries. Photo: AP
Kunal Purohit
From India’s surprise announcement on Monday, expanding its trilateral naval exercises with the United States and Japan to include Australia, to its coming high-level defence and diplomatic dialogue with the US, the winds of policy change might be blowing in New Delhi.
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And China might be at the heart of much of that change.
Even as thousands of its troops have been locked in a tense stand-off with Chinese troops in the icy Himalayan region of Ladakh for over five months, India has been taking slow but sure-footed strategic decisions that it had been putting off for fear of inviting Beijing’s wrath.

After finally agreeing to expand the naval exercises to include all the member countries of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad – a decision that it had been dithering on for a while – New Delhi is getting set to sign a separate military agreement with the US next week, the last of the four foundational military agreements that will allow for the greater sharing of geospatial intelligence.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper are expected to travel to New Delhi for talks with their respective Indian counterparts, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh, next Monday and Tuesday. The two sides have already signed three other military agreements, and the fourth, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Intelligence (BECA), is pending approval from the Indian side.

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