US-India defence trade and partnership in technology has been promising in the past decade. The top US official said that he will also leverage bilateral and multilateral engagements with likeminded partners

Washington: The border tensions between India and China portray a disturbing trend of increasing Chinese aggression and assertion in the region, and also towards the United States allies, Colin Kahl, President Joe Biden’s pick for the top Pentagon policy job, told lawmakers on Friday.

Kahl, in his submission to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing for the post of Defence Under Secretary for Policy, expressed America’s resolve to stand by its partners.

“The India-China border tensions reflect a concerning trend of growing aggressiveness and assertiveness by China in the region, including toward allies and partners of the United States. We will, however, continue to stand by our allies and partners and support their ongoing efforts to deescalate the situation. If confirmed, I will continue to monitor the situation closely as both parties work toward a peaceful resolution,” he said.

Highlighting that US-India defence trade and partnership in technology has been promising in the past decade, Kahl stated that he will work towards sustaining these progresses.

Kahl said that he will continue to uphold India’s status as a ‘Major Defence Partner’ so that the cooperation is closer in shared interests of the Indo-Pacific region.

“To this end, I would support efforts to strengthen interoperability, expand bilateral and multilateral security cooperation across the region and deepen defence trade and technology sharing,” he stated.

The top US official said that he will also leverage bilateral and multilateral engagements with likeminded partners.

“To continue elevating the US-India partnership, I would prioritise a few promising areas of cooperation. These include deepening information-sharing and mutual logistics operations, growing our defence trade and technology relationship, and expanding high-end cooperation in the maritime domain, including in the Indian Ocean region and Southeast Asia. Importantly, I would also seek to expand multilateral cooperation with like-minded partners in the region, including through the Quad, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) mechanisms, and other regional engagements,” Kahl added.