US to deepen security ties with ‘leading global power’ India

Describing India as a "leading global power", the US on Tuesday unveiled its new National Security Strategy (NSS) that said it will "deepen" America's strategic partnership with India and support its leadership role in Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region.

Trump's broad strategy plan looks for allies to face what he sees as "an extraordinarily dangerous world, filled with a wide range of threats".

Against this scenario, he declared, "We will deepen our strategic partnership with India and support its leadership role in Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region."

Clearly concerned about China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) inititatives, the Trump administration said it will help South Asian countries "maintain their sovereignty" as China increases its influence in the region.

"We welcome India's emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defence partner," said the National Security Strategy unveiled by President Donald Trump.

"We will expand our defence and security cooperation with India, a major defence partner of the United States, and support India's growing relationships throughout the region," the NSS said, noting that its vision for Indo-Pacific excludes no nation.

On Pakistan, Trump said, "We will press Pakistan to intensify its counterterrorism efforts, since no partnership can survive a country's support for militants and terrorists who target a partner's own service members and officials. The United States will also encourage Pakistan to continue demonstrating that it is a responsible steward of its nuclear assets."

A significant part of the strategic document, which the US President is scheduled to present in Washington was devoted to threats from China. "A geopolitical competition between free and repressive visions of world order is taking place in the Indo-Pacific region,'' he said.

"China is using economic inducements and penalties, influence operations, and implied military threats to persuade other states to heed its political and security agenda," he said.

In this theatre, he said, "We welcome India's emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defence partner. We will seek to increase quadrilateral cooperation with Japan, Australia, and India."

"We will deepen our strategic partnership with India and support its leadership role in Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region," said the NSS which the White House said sets a positive strategic direction for the US that will restore America's advantages in the world and build upon the country's ''great strengths''.

"The prospect for an Indo-Pakistani military conflict that could lead to a nuclear exchange remains a key concern requiring consistent diplomatic attention," NSS said.

"We seek an American presence in the region proportionate to threats to the homeland and our allies. We seek a Pakistan that is not engaged in destabilising behaviour and a stable and self-reliant Afghanistan," the NSS said.

Insisting that it is committed to supporting the Afghan government and security forces in their fight against the Taliban, al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorists, the NSS said the US will bolster the fighting strength of the Afghan security forces to convince the Taliban that they cannot win on the battlefield and to set conditions for diplomatic efforts to achieve enduring peace.

"We will insist that Pakistan take decisive action against militant and terrorist groups operating from its soil," it said.