Following the deadly border clash with Chinese soldiers, India will most likely try to bolster its armed forces by further expanding military cooperation with the U.S. and American allies, analysts told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.
"India will try to align closer to the U.S. and others also wanting to check China," said Manoj Joshi, a distinguished fellow with the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation. "India will step up diplomatic efforts with like-minded countries like the U.S., U.K., Australia and Japan."
This would continue a trend toward India building closer ties to Washington after its foreign policy for much of its first 50 years of existence was centered on remaining nonaligned.
Examples of India's increasing ties with the West in recent years have been joint naval exercises with Japan and the U.S. in the Indian Ocean, and just last month New Delhi signed adeal with Australia that will allow the two nations access to each other's military bases.
In addition, India has in recent years signed major agreements with the U.S. permitting expanded purchases of American military equipment, as well as joint operations.
India faces difficult choices, according to analysts, as Beijing has frequently warned New Delhi not to join into diplomatic and military efforts China sees as aimed at containing its power.
"The mood toward China is going to change in very corrosive ways," said Ashley Tellis, a former senior security official in the George W. Bush administration and an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "The pressure on [Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi] to respond in some fashion will be really significant."
But directly retaliating could risk an even deadlier escalation with a Chinese military whose budget is almost four times larger.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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