US, India set to sign defense pact amid ‘China standoff’

Bloomberg

The US and India are set to sign a defense agreement and boost trade ties in high-level talks that come as the South Asian nation sees its worst border conflict with China in four decades.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo arrived in New Delhi on Monday and along with Defense secretary Mark Esper will attend a 2+2 ministerial dialog with foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and defense minister Rajnath Singh to discuss cooperation on pandemic response and challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
The discussions are taking place barely a week before presidential elections in the US and at a time when India, a member of the informal four-nation Quad grouping along with America, Japan and Australia, is in talks to de-escalate military tensions with Beijing.
On Tuesday, India is expected to announce the signing of the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement, which will give it access to the US’ geo-spatial intelligence inputs to help improve the accuracy of automated hardware systems, missiles and drones, according to senior administration officials.
The talks are also set to further boost India’s defense purchases from the US, currently at $20 billion, and help address
its security concerns in the Indian Ocean region as it seeks to compete with China, which has an economy that is about five times larger.
“South Asia and the Indian Ocean is India’s primary strategic theatre, and India’s domain of influence,” said Bec Strating, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Melbourne’s La Trobe University. “India is likely to want to maintain its influence in the Indian Ocean and South Asia, manage relations with US and PRC to its advantage, and maintain its own strategic autonomy.”
Pompeo will also travel to the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Indonesia later in the week as part of the US push to counter Chinese influence in Asia.
His visit will help ensure relations between the two nations “don’t lose momentum” during the transition period until a new administration is sworn in early next year, said Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution. “This is also a way of showing solidarity with India
at a time when there is bipartisan support for its conflict with China.”
The US has been increasingly concerned about China expanding its influence in the region through infrastructure and security investments in smaller neighbours. The US is working with India to “build a more attractive alternative for countries to work with in the future.”