Is US's love for India real, China media asks after Washington defers ‘2+2 talks’

Beijing, July 2: Days after the US postponed the '2+2 dialogue' with India for the second time in a few months, China's Global Times news publication carried a report saying the Indo-Pacific strategy is going to prove costly for India. The Indo-Pacific strategy is the plan of the US under President Donald Trump to counter China's military and economic hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region and Washington also intends to make India an important part of its strategic thinking.

According to the Chinese media, India would have to pay a price in lieu of it.

"India is eager for development, but the US is not the one that can provide New Delhi with the atmosphere that its development needs. The decision of the US administration to postpone the US-India "2+2 dialogue", scheduled for July 6, is a disappointment to India, and the second such time that this supposedly important dialogue between the two countries' foreign and defense ministers has been postponed," the Global Times article titled 'Indo-Pacific strategy costs India development opportunity' said.

The Chinese media report said the US has displayed its fondness for India in words but it is still not clear whether India needs just the fondness or the real benefits on the ground. It said India and the US share common interests for sure which is understood from the existence of the Indo-Pacific strategy but the real benefits of pursuing the strategy might be too expensive for India.

The piece said the sub-text of the US's Indo-Pacific strategy is its expectation that India can play a significant part in balancing China's rise and questioned whether India needed to play as per the US's expectations?

"Don't forget that this strategy has a strong military stance against China. At the very least, it is re-dividing Asia-Pacific with Cold War thinking," it said, adding further caution that India's quest for having a sphere of influence shouldn't be allowed to come at the cost of hurting its own domestic development since engaging in a game of military balance will only erode its strength.

"India needs to be aware that without paying heed to Indian concerns, the US' strategy is hampering, not aiding, India's domestic development. Rather than falling victim to the US' purpose of containing China's rise, it is better for India to look to China for ways of self-development. What India can learn from China is that its ability to stand on its own feet will determine its place in Asia and the world," it added.

It said it is not the US but China which can provide India with the necessary knowledge and support for achieving economic development.

The Chinese piece came on the same day when Iran's Tehran Times blasted India's buckling under Washington's pressure to curb its oil trade with Iran, a country which the US has fiercely targeted under the Donald Trump presidency. The Tehran Times report said while the other two big buyers of Iran's oil - China and Turkey - resisted the US pressure, India gave in.