Security and strategic affairs expert Commodore (retd) Uday Bhaskar on Tuesday opined that while the progress in the relationship between New Delhi and Washington is a welcome development, India must engage with both China and the US.
"The positive development in the India-US relationship has definitely animated Beijing. We saw that in 2005, when the civilian nuclear agreement was announced and subsequently whenever there is any progress, for example in 2008, when 123 Agreement was signed. The current response is interesting. There is a certain degree of ambivalence. One school of Chinese thought is very dismissive, saying that this is all superficial. The other seems to suggest that India should not get into a trap and get too close to the United States," Commodore Bhaskar told ANI.
"I would read this as a predictable response from China but at the same time, I think that for India, this particular aspect has always been Central to the approach: that India would like to engage with both the US and China in a manner that India's own security and national interests are not compromised," he added.
Commodore Bhaskar also stated that the growing relationship between Beijing and Islamabad was a matter of concern, adding that India will have to up its technological prowess to maintain its status in the South Asia region.
"We have a challenge with China because the way they have engaged in deep strategic cooperation with Pakistan, and what kind of an implication that has for India, their leaders have not been able to convey to India. On one hand, they talk on issues like terrorism, but at the same time they are aware that the Pakistani establishment has been a supporter of such terror activities," he said.
"In the long run, I feel this will be an area for concern so for India, there is only one option in my mind and that is to increase its own comprehensive national power. That can only be achieved via access to technology, which is where the India-US relationship becomes important. However, that does not mean that India will not engage with China," he added.
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On Monday, an aggravated China reportedly dismissed the growing Indo-US relationship as 'superficial rapprochement', recalling the revoking of Prime Minister Modi's visa by the US before he came to power and the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York.
China has also been meeting Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on the backdrop of US President Barack Obama's visit of India and has reportedly called Islamabad an 'all weather' friend.