Earlier today, India and the US signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA), thus underlining deeper military-to-military cooperation between the two countries. Pompeo's visit comes at a time when China and India are locked in a bitter standoff along the LAC. Pompeo has been critical of China's expansionist policies

Beijing: China, on Tuesday, slammed US Defence Secretary Mike Pompeo and said that the US should stop showing discord between Beijing and other countries in the region. Addressing a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that Pompeo's accusations against China are not new.

"These are groundless accusations which reflect that he is clinging to the Cold War mentality and ideological biases. We urge him to abandon the Cold War and the zero-sum game mentality and stop sowing discord between China and regional countries as well as undermining the regional peace and stability," Wang said.

His remarks came shortly after US and India signed the landmark Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) which will allow sharing of sophisticated military technology between the two countries. 

What's happening now isn't Cold War 2.0: Pompeo earlier said

Pompeo, who is on a visit to New Delhi for 2+2 dialogue, has vehemently criticised China for its expansionist designs. Earlier, he had said that China's expansionism is the biggest threat of 'our times'. "What's happening now isn't Cold War 2.0. The challenge of resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) threat is in some ways worse. The CCP is already enmeshed in our economies, in our politics, in our societies in ways the Soviet Union never was," he had said in a speech to the Czech senate.

He had also slammed China for instigating a confrontation in Eastern Ladakh. After India, Pompeo will be visiting Sri Lanka and Maldives. His visit to these nations is also important given that China has been pursuing its expansionist strategies in the Indo-Pacific region and extending financial aid to island nations in a bid to increase its influence.