New Delhi: Amid the escalating conflict in West Asia, US Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby has said that India's role is indispensable for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific as well as to ensure a "favorable" balance of power in Asia.
"The United States believes that India will play a central role in ensuring a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. In this context, a strong, confident India is not only good for the Indian people. It is good for Americans as well," Colby said, laying out a broader vision for deeper defense ties between India and the US.
The top Donald Trump administration official's two-day visit to New Delhi assumes significance as it comes amid the escalating crisis in West Asia, as well as mounting concerns over China's increasing military muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific.
"First, the United States and India do not need to agree on everything to cooperate effectively. What matters is that our interests and objectives increasingly converge on the most fundamental issues," he said.
"Differences and even disputes are fully compatible with deepening alignment and cooperation on strategic matters. The roots of our partnership are deeper than optics and more durable than superficial comity; they are, rather, thickly embedded in lasting strategic mutual self-interest," he said.
Colby said even as the US is seeking to expand American military sales to India, it also recognizes New Delhi's ambition to expand its indigenous defense industry.
