India faces possibility of sustained Chinese aggression on the border, says outgoing US envoy

The outgoing US envoy Kenneth Juster on Tuesday said that India faces the prospect of sustained Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control.

He also said that the US has cooperated with India to counter ‘aggressive’ Chinese actions at the Line of Actual Control.

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“Our close coordination has been important as India confronts, perhaps on a sustained basis, aggressive Chinese activity on its border,” he said

In his farewell address on ”Ambition and Achievement in the US-India Partnership”, he also said America’s support for India’s rise as a global power is clear across the political spectrum.

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He said that the Indo-Pacific region needs stability, leadership and a democratic model for development that does not threaten the sovereignty of other countries and a strong and democratic India is an important partner to promote peace and prosperity.

“We recognise India’s desire to produce more of its military equipment within the country and the United States looks forward to our growing partnership in this effort,” he said.

“US and India are committed to strengthening our defence and security cooperation. In the past four years, we have purposely deepened this cooperation to keep our nation safe from a growing array of threats and to provide security beyond our own borders,” he added.

Juster said that the Indo-Pacific is particularly significant for US-India relationship because “it recognises the reality that India and the Indian Ocean are inextricably tied to East Asia and Pacific”.

The Ambassador also said that the Indo-Pacific region encompasses the fastest and largest growing economies in the world.

“More than 50 per cent of international trade passes through its waters. The region is rich in natural resources and it is fast becoming the centre of gravity of the evolving international system. Indeed, the tectonic plates of that system have shifted, marked especially by the rise of China and more recently by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which has devastated health, the economy in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)