India may show greater willingness to resist Chinese assertiveness in Indo-Pacific: CRS report

A Congressional report on the Indo-Pacific region has said that India could lead to a "greater willingness" to resist "Chinese assertiveness" and move closer to the US while not abandoning multilateral approaches.

China has been trying to spread its influence in the resource-rich Indo-Pacific region. To counter Beijing, the US has been pushing for a broader role by India in the strategically important region.

India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military maneuvering in the region, which is a large swathe of land and sea stretching all the way from the west coast of the US to the shores of east Africa.

"Most analysts consider that the Modi/BJP victory in spring 2019 parliamentary elections has empowered the Indian leader (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) domestically and on the global stage. Given Modi's reputation for a muscular foreign policy, this could lead to a greater willingness to resist Chinese assertiveness and move closer to the United States while not abandoning multilateral approaches, independent Congressional Research Service said in a report.

In its latest report "Indo-Pacific Strategies of US Allies and Partners: Issues for Congress" the Congressional Research Service said that the challenges with the United States loom: many Indian strategic thinkers say their country's national interests are served by continued engagement with Russia and Iran, and thus contend there will be limits to New Delhi's willingness to abide "America's short-term impulses."