India will not be an ally of US, but another great power: White House

Washington: India, which has a unique strategic character, will not be an ally of the US, but another great power, a top White House official has said, asserting there is no other bilateral relationship that is being "deepened and strengthened" more rapidly than between the two countries over the last 20 years.

Responding to a question on India during his appearance at the Aspen Security Forum meeting here on Thursday, Kurt Campbell, the White House Asia Coordinator, said that in his view India is the most important bilateral relationship for the United States in the 21st century.

"The fact is, I don't know of any bilateral relationship that is being deepened and strengthened more rapidly than the United States and India over the last 20 years," he told a Washington audience. The United States needs to invest even more of its capacity, and build in people-to-people ties, working together on technology and other issues, he said. "India has a unique strategic character. It will not be an ally of the United States. It has the desire to be an independent, powerful state and it will be another great power.

But I think there are reasons to believe that our strategic alignment is growing across the board in almost every arena," Campbell said.

There are inhibitions in both of the bureaucracies and there are many challenges, he acknowledged. "But I do believe that this is a relationship that should have some ambition. We should look at things that we can do together, whether it's in space, whether it's in education, whether it's on climate, whether it's on technology, and really move in that direction," he said. "If you look over the last 20 years and look at the hurdles that have been surmounted and the depth of engagement between our two sides, it's remarkable," he said.

India-US relationship, he asserted, is not simply built on anxiety around China. "It is a deeper understanding of the importance of the synergies between our societies," he said, adding that the Indian diaspora here is a powerful connection. Campbell acknowledged that Indians were ambivalent when President Joe Biden and his administration decided to take the Quad to the leader level.

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 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.