WASHINGTON, June 16, 2023 - Global Strat View (GSV) hosted an event on the US-India Strategic Partnership, focusing on trade, security, and defense cooperation. The panel consisted of Col. John Mills (US Army Ret.), fmr. Director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Christopher Roper Scholl, Contributing Editor at Fair Observer and fmr. Congressional Liaison for the Pentagon. Se Hoon Kim, GSV's Senior Correspondent for East and South Asian Affairs, moderated the discussion.
Col. Mills emphasized the importance of strengthening US-India Relations to deter China's global malign influence. Commenting on the ongoing border conflict with China, Col. Mills said, "We should side with India, it's as simple as that…" recognizing so-called "disputed territories" by China as sovereign territories of India.
Scholl expressed that the private sectors of India and the US are figuring out a closer form of economic partnership with the steady increase of global investments in the Indian market. He alluded to the US visit of Prime Minister Modi. He explained that the GE deal is expected to be formalized, further attesting to the ever-increasing US-India trade relations.
Notwithstanding India's long-standing relations with Russia, Scholl noted that the upcoming visit presents a rare opportunity for the US to partner with India because "India is looking for friends, and frankly, so are we."
The panelists also discussed ongoing efforts to derail India's development by China and Pakistan. Col. Mills commented that, due to its own actions, Pakistan has essentially become a tributary state to China. The panelists emphasized that the malign efforts to derail India's growth will not succeed, as India is on its way to becoming the third, potentially second, largest economy by 2027. The panelists emphasized that the US needs to support the protection of India's IP and Patents on top of its ongoing efforts to combat IP and Patent theft by China.
Col. Mills and Mr. Scholl expressed that the timing of Secretary Blinken's sudden upcoming visit to China on the eve of the visit of PM Modi to the US is confusing.
The Panelists concluded that the US should not be lecturing India but rather focus on things that are in our mutual interest and move forward on those factors.
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SOURCE Global Strat View
