India-US 2-plus-2 dialogue: Commitment to 'free and open' Indo-Pacific will send message to China amid trade war

India and the United States, in the 2+2 dialogue concluded on Thursday, signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) and, agreed to promote synergy in their diplomatic and security efforts. However, the most significant mention in the joint statement was that of working towards a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, reflecting the growing importance of this region for both the nations.

“The ministers reviewed cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, noting that the common principles for the region articulated in the India-US Joint Statement of June 2017 have been further amplified by President Donald Trump at Danang, Vietnam on 10 November, 2017, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue on 1 June, 2018. Both sides committed to work together and in concert with other partners toward advancing a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, based on recognition of ASEAN centrality and on respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, rule of law, good governance, free and fair trade, and freedom of navigation and overflight.

“Noting the importance of infrastructure and connectivity for the Indo-Pacific region, both sides emphasised the need to work collectively with other partner countries to support transparent, responsible, and sustainable debt financing practices in infrastructure development,” the joint statement after the 2+2 dialogue read.

US, wary of China’s growing assertiveness in the region and its influence, has been giving increasing weightage to its Indo-Pacific strategy and even in its National Security Strategy (NSS), Washington warns against China using economic inducements and penalties, influence operations, and implied military threats to persuade other states to heed its political and security agenda.

Nadia Schadlow, Deputy Assistant to the US President for National Security Strategy, said at the Raisina Dialogue 2018 that the NSS recognises the centrality of India-US partnership. “India is a pillar of our common vision for free and open Indo-Pacific.” The NSS states that the US will support India’s growing relationships throughout the region.

The document further notes, China’s infrastructure investments and trade strategies reinforce its geopolitical aspirations. Its efforts to build and militarise outposts in the South China Sea endanger the free flow of trade, threaten the sovereignty of other nations, and undermine regional stability.

US is also engaged in a ’trade war’ with China at present with Trump threatening fresh tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports. China on Thursday warned of retaliation saying, if the US, regardless of opposition, adopts any new tariff measures, Beijing will be forced to roll out necessary retaliatory measures.

China and the US have already slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on $50 billion of each other’s goods, spooking financial markets in recent months. Trump is demanding Beijing improve market access and intellectual property protections for US companies, cut industrial subsidies and slash a $375 billion trade gap.

China has also spent $1.3 billion on concessionary loans and gifts since 2011 to become the Pacific’s second-largest donor after Australia.

Given US concerns over China’s assertiveness, the Trump administration has time and again said that India is a key partner in America’s efforts to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and called on New Delhi to play a more weighty role in the region. The Trump administration has also defended the use of the term ‘Indo-Pacific’ by saying that it captured the importance of the rise of India with which the US has strong ties.

Speaking to the media after the 2+2 dialogue, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed on the need to “ensure the freedom of the seas and the skies.” Regarding the Indo-Pacific, he said, “… India and the United States have a natural starting point for advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific. We should continue to ensure the freedom of the seas and the skies; uphold the peaceful resolution of territorial maritime disputes; promote market-based economics; support good governance, fundamental rights, and liberties; and prevent external economic coercion.”

He also said that the COMCASA is a major step forward in our (India and US) defence collaboration and coordination. “It will allow us to better protect freedom in the Indo-Pacific.”

From Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific

Former US president Barack Obama and Modi used the term ‘Asia Pacific’ in their joint statements in 2014 and 2015.

In 2014, both the leaders  committed to work more closely with other Asia Pacific countries through consultations, dialogues, and joint exercises. They also reaffirmed their shared interest in preserving regional peace and stability, which are critical to the Asia Pacific region’s continued prosperity. Modi and Obama also expressed concerns about rising tensions over maritime territorial disputes, and affirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea.

Then in 2015, both the leaders agreed on a Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean region and reflected that a close partnership between the US and India “is indispensable to promoting peace, prosperity and stability in those regions.”

The term ‘Indo-Pacific’ was repeatedly used by Trump and his administration to reflect a conceptual shift in US’ strategy in the region. The term treats India as a regional power, and not just a big, isolated country, according to Quartz . “We talk about Indo-Pacific in part because that phrase captures the importance of India’s rise,” a White House official told PTI.

Alex Wong, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, also said that the use of the term ‘Indo-Pacific’ acknowledges the “historical reality and the current day reality that South Asia and in particular, India plays a key role” in the Pacific, in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Even in the India-US joint statement in 2017, Trump and Modi agreed that a close partnership between the United States and India is central to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The US military also renamed its Pacific Command the US Indo-Pacific Command in May this year and officials termed it a “symbolic move” underscoring the growing importance of India to the Pentagon. “In recognition of the increasing connectivity between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, we rename the US Pacific Command to US Indo-Pacific Command,” Defence Secretary Jim Mattis had said.

China, however, has always expressed apprehensions over this budding US-India relationship and warned that any benefits from the Indo-Pacific strategy may be “greatly outweighed by the costs to India.”

‘US, India not on same page’

An op-ed in The Global Times warned that despite India and US having converging interests in counterbalancing China’s regional influence, New Delhi does not want to provoke Beijing in sensitive issues.

Another op-ed said that India is considered by many US strategists as the best choice for the US to counterbalance China but, it’s not the best choice for New Delhi to become such a strategic follower of Washington. It further called on India and China to better cooperate, especially in the face of pressure from Washington while adding that coordinated China-India ties are essential to the stability of Asia.

With inputs from agencies