US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday said that India will be a key partner for America in the future, playing a key role in the fight against China. The remark comes as the idea that border clashes between India and China in the Himalayas present a two-front problem for Beijing is gaining traction among US strategists, Japan’s Nikkei Asia reported.
New Delhi will be a strategic partner for the US in the future
During a one-on-one seminar in Washington, a top US Navy officer said on Thursday that he has spent more time traveling to India than any other country because he sees New Delhi as a strategic partner for the US going forward. . Speaking about his five-day visit to India last year, Admiral Gilday said: “The battle space in the Indian Ocean is increasingly important to us. The fact that India and China have a bit of a skirmish on their borders at the moment… is strategically important.”
“Now they’re forcing China to not only look east, toward the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, but now they have to look over their shoulder at India,” Admiral Gilday said during an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation. “India should draw Chinese attention to Himalayan border”
Back in June, when Quad leaders met in Japan, former Pentagon official Elbridge Colby told Nikkei Asia that while India would not directly contribute to the local battle over Taiwan, it could draw China’s attention to the Himalayan border. “The United States and Japan need India to make it as strong as possible in South Asia and effectively draw China’s attention so that they have a big second-front problem,” said Colby, the lead author of the 2018 National Defense Strategy under former President Donald Trump. India, meanwhile, is equally benefiting from China’s difficulty in countering the strong US-Japan alliance around Taiwan, he said.
Indo-US exercise near LAC
In that context, the planned joint mountaintop exercise between the US and India in October is seen as underscoring a potential second front for China, according to Nikkei Asia. From October 18 to 31, the annual joint exercise Yudh Abhyas, which translates to “practice of war”, will be held in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. all these exercises took place in the foothills, more than 300 km from the border with China.
This year’s exercise will take place at an altitude of over 3,000 meters in the Auli region of Uttarakhand, less than 100 km from the Line of Actual Control – the de facto border between India and China, Nikkei Asia reported. Earlier this year, columnist Brahma Chellaney wrote in Nikkei Asia that India’s activities in the Himalayas could help Taiwan’s defense. It would be “tying up the complete Chinese theater force that might otherwise be deployed against the island,” Chellaney argued, adding that such a two-front strategy must be coordinated with the US.
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