India can be strategic partner by playing key role in countering China, says US Navy chief
India Today
US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday has said India can be a strategic partner to the United States by playing a key role in countering China.
US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday has said India can be a strategic partner to the United States by playing an important role in countering China.
Gilday was speaking at a seminar hosted by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, reported Nikkei Asia.
"India presents China with a two-front problem. They now force China to not only look east, toward the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, but they now have to be looking over their shoulder at India," he said.
“I've spent more time on a trip to India than I have with any other country because I consider them to be a strategic partner for us in the future,” Gilday said.
Bringing up his five-day visit to India last October, he said, "The Indian Ocean battlespace is becoming increasingly more important for us. The fact that India and China currently have a bit of a skirmish along their border... it's strategically important."
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The fact that the border clashes in the Himalayas pose a two-front problem for Beijing has been gaining traction among US strategists, reported Nikkei Asia.
