India key ally of US to ward off 'China threat', says Congressman Meeks

US, India and several other world powers have been discussing the need to ensure free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region

India is a key ally of the United States, an influential American lawmaker who recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, adding that it is a "key country" to ward off the threats of China.

These remarks were made by Gregory Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and senior member of the House Financial Services Committee.

It's tremendously important, and the reason you're talking about 1.3 billion people. But the ally that India is for the United States is important, Meeks told CNN in an interview on Sunday.

When you look at what Joe Biden has done pulling people, pulling countries together, for example, India is an integral part of the Quad, our relationship with India, as well as South Korea and Japan, United States, and Australia, he said.

Meeks was part of a high-powered delegation that recently travelled to India and met Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi.

Then you... about India also part of the trilateral agreement that's moving forward. You know, they have been key, but we have the trilateral with South Korea and Japan. But India is a key ally and key country as we make sure that we ward off the threats of China and the Indo-Pacific and work with the Philippines. That's important, he said.

So, you know, we've had that conversation and that dialogue with Prime Minister Modi, India being the world's largest democracy and the United States the oldest. It's about democratic countries coming together and working collectively together against autocratic countries like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. So it's the world coming together. India is a part of that and tremendously important as we move on and move together, Meeks said.

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region, comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea.

The US, India and several other world powers have been discussing the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.