Beijing: The first ever Indo-US strategic
dialogue being held in Washington to forge closer ties could
put "more pressure on China", according to a Chinese observer.
"Washington is hosting the first-ever strategic
dialogue between the US and India in hopes of forging stronger
ties, a move observers say may put more pressure on China,"
state-run `China Daily` reported today quoting the observer.
"The US may hope to get from India what it failed to
get from China, and through a strengthened cooperation with
another Asian giant, pressure China more on many issues," the
daily quoted Hu Shisheng, a scholar of South Asia studies at
the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations,
as saying.
It is expected that cooperation on counter-terrorism
in Afghanistan and Pakistan, India`s role in Afghanistan,
issues related to science and technology will be discussed
during the meeting, the report said.
It also quoted US undersecretary of state for
political affairs William Burns as saying that the dialogue
would elevate India to rank of US` one "most important" global
partners.
"India, as a major power in Asia, has long placed its
relationship with the US at its heart especially in regards to
its rising regional influence," Hu said.
Hu said New Dehli hopes to see more dedication to
practical fields such as nuclear cooperation and technology
transfer, while Washington wants its partner to further open
its market and show continual support on the Iranian nuclear
issue.
"But the dialogue will be more ceremonious than
effective. The US has already held many such dialogues with
China and Pakistan, and now India needs to verify its
importance to the US through the same channel," Hu said
referring to the second round of strategic and economic
dialogue between China and US here last month.
In March Pakistan and the US completed their fourth
round of strategic dialogue, which was upgraded to ministerial
level last year.
PTI
