Roving Periscope: The US smiles at China and Pakistan; then inks defence pact with India!
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid fast-changing geodynamics, temporary alliances and coalitions, and the emergence of a New World Order—or is it Chaos?—no country wants to put all its bags in one basket. Friends and enemies now seamlessly merge into frenemies.
Nothing demonstrates this better than how US President Donald Trump has, in his second term, overturned the ‘classical’ global politics and churned friends and foes in and out of the great centrifuge called geopolitics. For example, America is friends with China and Pakistan in some respects and with India in others.
That is why, just a day after Trump warmed up to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea, US Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth said on Friday that he told his own Chinese counterpart during talks in Malaysia that Washington would “stoutly defend” its interests in the Indo-Pacific, the media reported on Friday.
To underscore this, he also signed a new 10-year US-India Defense Framework aimed at strengthening security ties with India.
Hegseth and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh are currently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to attend a meeting of members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and some of its dialogue partners. The pact was sealed at a meeting between the defence chiefs of the US and India.
Singh described the agreement as a “signal” of growing strategic convergence between the two democratic nations.
The firming up of the pact came amid bilateral efforts to repair ties that came under severe strain following Washington’s slapping of 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods since April.
“We signed the 10 years ‘Framework for the US-India Major Defence Partnership’. This will usher in a new era in our already strong defence partnership,” Singh said on X after talks with Hegseth.
He said the pact will provide policy direction in the entire spectrum of the India-US defence relationship. “It is a signal of our growing strategic convergence and will herald a new decade of partnership.”
“Defence will remain as a major pillar of our bilateral relations. Our partnership is critical for ensuring a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific region,” Singh added.
Hegseth said the agreement “advances our defence partnership, a cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence.” “We’re enhancing our coordination, info sharing, and tech cooperation. Our defense ties have never been stronger.”
Earlier, the US leader described as “good and constructive” his meeting with Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun, held on the sidelines of the ASEAN defense ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur. He raised US concerns over Chinese activities in the South China Sea, around Taiwan, and toward US allies and partners in the region.
Reacting to it, the Chinese Defense Minister called for ‘trust’ with the US, and cautioned it over Taiwan, the media reported.
“I highlighted the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on social media platform X. “The United States does not seek conflict (but) it will continue to stoutly defend its interests and ensure it has the capabilities in the region to do so.”
China’s defense ministry issued a cautious response, emphasizing its longstanding positions. Dong Jun stressed that the reunification of China and Taiwan is an “unstoppable historical trend” and urged the US to be cautious in its words and actions on the Taiwan issue, the statement said.
“We hope the US will translate its statements of not containing China and not seeking conflict into action, and work with China to inject positive energy into regional and global peace and security,” according to the statement.
Their meeting followed a September 9 video call between Hegseth and Dong and reflects ongoing efforts to manage tensions in the Indo-Pacific even as strategic differences, particularly over Taiwan and freedom of navigation, remain pronounced.
The fresh 10-year Indo-US defense framework aims at expanding military and technological cooperation. Washington has long sought to develop a deeper partnership with New Delhi, which is seen as a bulwark against China. India is a major defense partner of the US and has in recent years embedded advanced American jets, helicopters, missiles and military gear into its armed forces.
Hegseth also held talks with his Malaysian and Philippines counterparts, and reaffirmed commitment to maritime security in the South China Sea. He said the US would “work relentlessly to reestablish deterrence in the South China Sea.”
Malaysia has previously protested against the encroachment of Chinese vessels into its waters but usually prefers quiet diplomacy, in contrast to the neighbouring Philippines, which has had major confrontations with China at sea in recent years. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, overlapping claims made by countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Asked to comment about US President Donald Trump’s plans to restart nuclear weapon testing for the first time in over three decades, Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin told a news conference on Friday that ASEAN is a nuclear weapon-free zone area and “we try to avoid anything that can bring great calamity to humankind.” He didn’t elaborate.
ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn separately said, at a planned ASEAN-US meeting on Saturday, some ASEAN members may seek more details from Hegseth about US nuclear testing. “For the security and safety of the world, I think it’s important … to bear in mind that the world should never see the use of another nuclear weapon,” he said.
President Trump commented on social media on Thursday that US’s fresh nuclear tests would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China. There were no signs the US would start detonating warheads. Trump offered few details in what seemed to be a significant shift in U.S. policy.
ASEAN defense ministers will continue talks on Saturday with dialogue partners including the United States, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Russia.
