Trump strategy calls India ‘leading global power’

The United States welcomed India’s rise as a “leading global power” and would step up quadrilateral cooperation with it and Japan and Australia, according to President Donald Trump’s first National Security Strategy released on Monday.

This was the first reference to “quadrilateral cooperation” in an American National Security Strategy (NSS) document, that is aimed at containing and managing China’s aggressive rise without calling it so.

It was also the first time that an NSS document, which every administration is statutorily mandated to submit to Congress, used the phrase “Indo-Pacific” as a geopolitical construct, which the Trump administration has begun using to much alarm and irritation in Beijing.

The document, which branded China and Russia as main competitors of the US and called them “revisionist powers”, also spelt out clearly that Washington will continue to press Pakistan to do more on counter-terrorism and be a “responsible steward” of its nuclear assets.

“Our new strategy is based on a principled realism, guided by our vital national interests, and rooted in our timeless values,” Trump said in a speech unveiling the strategy on Monday. “We face rogue regimes that threaten the US and our allies. We face terrorist organisations, transnational criminal networks, and others who spread violence and evil around the globe.”

He added, “We also face rival powers, Russia and China, that seek to challenge American influence, values, and wealth.”

Focussing on South Asia, the strategy document said the US “continues to face threats from transnational terrorists and militants operating from within Pakistan” that the other big concern was the “prospect for an IndoPakistani military conflict that could lead to a nuclear exchange”. In his remarks, Trump said, “We have made clear to Pakistan that while we desire continued partnership, we must see decisive action against terrorist groups operating on their territory. And we make massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help.”

WASHINGTON: