India-US ties not targeted at China, says US envoy
The US has sought a more proactive partnership with India to promote regional stability, but has underlined that the growing India-US relationships are not “confrontational” in relationship with China.
“[India-US Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean Regions] is a vision borne out of the recognition that India’s Act East policy and our rebalance to Asia are complementary and have the potential to create meaningful impact in the region. We want our partnership to benefit not only our two countries, but also the region—and to a larger extent have our partnership stand as a model for emerging democracies worldwide,” US ambassador to India Richard Verma said. Richard Verma is the first Indian-American to become the US ambassador to India. He was speaking an interaction organised by the Asia Society Indian Centre in Mumbai on February 10.
The joint vision statement on the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean regions during US President Barack Obama’s trip to India haw elicited strong negative reaction from China. Influential state-controlled Chinese dailies termed the vision statement as a manifestation of a US-orchestrated containment strategy directed against China, and accused India of following through with the “containment policy.”
The US envoy’s remarks sought to allay Beijing’s anxieties and placed the India-US geopolitical configuration in a broader perspective