China's moves along the India border provocative: White House official

Some of the steps being taken by Beijing along the India-China border have been provocative, a top White House official has said while reiterating that the United States is destined to work more closely with New Delhi Kurt Campbell, the Deputy Assistant to the US President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, told a Washington-based think-tank that India is not an ally of the United States and will never be so.

"But it does not mean that we will not be close partners and share many things. That's how we need to understand the role that India will play as a great nation on the global stage.

"We want to encourage that and support that and deepen this relationship, which is already very strong, probably the strongest people-to-people relationship of any country that the United States has on the global stage," he said.

The think tank -- Centre for a New American Security -- in a report said that the India-China border intrusions and clashes have become more frequent and threaten to lead to all-out conflict.

The increased prospect of India-China border hostility has implications for the United States and its Indo-Pacific strategy between the two Asian giants, it said.

The report said that Indian officials believe China is trying to contain India by forcing it to divert more resources into defending simultaneously both its western border with Pakistan and eastern flank with China and by weakening its willingness and ability to challenge Chinese ambitions to dominate the region.

Campbell told the think-tank, "Some of the steps that China has taken along this vast 5,000-mile border had been provocative and deeply concerning to Indian partners and friends." The think tank's report, authored by Lisa Curtis and Derek Grossman, has made several recommendations to help deter and respond to further Chinese aggression along the border with India.

Also Watch: China opposes 'exclusionary blocs', slams Quad meeting in New Delhi