The NSAs will discuss Indo-Pacific security amid concerns over Chinese surveillance in the Bay of Bengal and increased PLA Navy presence.
Visiting US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval will hold delegation-level talks today with a focus on security in the Indo-Pacific amidst Chinese continued belligerence against Taiwan and using Myanmar to gain access to the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. NSA Sullivan will also meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
While the priority bilateral agenda on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US was on top agenda for the two NSAs on Tuesday, the focus will be on Indo-Pacific with US Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell accompanying Sullivan. With China monitoring Indian activities in Bay of Bengal through its installed intelligence collecting facilities in Myanmar’s Coco Island, north of India’s Andamans and Nicobar Island territories, and signing a security pact with Solomon Islands in far Pacific, the expansion of PLA Navy’s footprint in the Indo-Pacific is a matter of serious concern to both US and India. Repeated intrusions across the Taiwan air identification zones through PLA military aircraft and warships as well as continued stand-off with Indian Army in East Ladakh are most disconcerting to the natural allies.
It is understood that NSA Sullivan and NSA Doval had one to one dialogue on global security issues and the future of bilateral partnership on Tuesday with all indications of a positive interaction. The newly appointed US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti called Indian NSA an “international treasure” at a CII event after the two met at Sardar Patel Bhawan days before. Garcetti, as per claims, has a working knowledge of Hindi and Urdu and has travelled extensively in India in the past.
With China investing in Myanmar-Bangladesh corridor to access the Bay of Bengal as part of the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) apart from ongoing investments in Pakistan with the same objective, there is ample evidence to indicate that President Xi Jinping has all plans to project dominance in Indian Ocean and has already built sufficient leverage with African countries through back-breaking Chinese debt burden via the BRI route.
To add to the discomfort is the increased Chinese diplomatic and military engagement with Sunni-Shia powers in the Middle East with Beijing investing in Port Khalifa in UAE and Saudi Arabia investing in setting up oil refineries in China instead of any other Sunni country.
On May 7, US and Indian NSAs along with the NSA of UAE held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh to set up railroad infrastructure in Sunni Middle East as a counter to the Chinese BRI initiative.
