India has the opportunity to check China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific region, diversify its weapons import and improve its defense capabilities
Donald Trump concluded his 36-hour India tour on Tuesday evening. This was his first visit to India since being elected the 45th president of the United States in November 2016. His tour to India was much anticipated by both the countries, which have a common strategic objective of balancing China’s rise.
This objective was reflected immediately in Trump’s first speech after landing in India, where he took a jab at China’s undemocratic rise. India’s rise “is all the more inspiring because you have done it as a democratic country, you have done it as a peaceful country, you have done it as a tolerant country, and you have done it as a great free country,” he said in his speech at Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
China’s revealed preference is to secure and safeguard, and inevitably control, the Indo-Pacific region in the future. This has been reaffirmed multiple times through the defense white papers and speeches of Politburo Standing Committee leaders.
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