US Meet To Debate India Ties, Role In Indo-Pacific And Counter-Force To China
As Washington weighs India’s growing strategic weight in the Indo-Pacific, the evolving balance between cooperation, competition and deterrence with China is set to shape future US policy choices in the region. Image courtesy: AI generated picture via DALL-E
A bipartisan American Congressional body is all set to discuss the US ties with India, which is now emerging as the bulwark of the Indo-Pacific strategy and as a counterweight to an aggressive, rising China.
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) is scheduled to meet for its first 2026 public hearing in February, this time specifically focusing on India, its ties with the US, and its importance as a counter-force to China in the Indo-Pacific region.
What would the US body discuss in its meeting?
In an announcement on the February 17 meeting, the bipartisan body said the meeting would talk business on the US bilateral ties with India and China, apart from the emerging power balance in the Indo-Pacific region, and India’s importance in the grand strategy to contain China.
The meeting would go deep into the geopolitical and military ties between Washington and New Delhi, apart from the US-China relations, including Beijing’s border tensions with its neighbours, and its growing maritime presence in the Indian Ocean.
What factors contribute to India’s importance to the US?
India and its role in the region would be the hot topic of debate in the congressional body’s meeting, to put a finger on New Delhi’s power equation in the Indo-Pacific.
The trade, investment, technology, and economic relations between India and China, US and India, and US and China, would be key points of discussion, it said.
India’s self-reliance efforts in critical areas such as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and pharma supply chains, apart from military, are also to be debated.
Would the US body look into US’s strategy on India?
The hearing would also review the US policy on enhancing partnerships with India, and its implications on its China ties, apart from American economic and security interests in the future.
Following a thaw in its ties since the miliary withdrawal in Ladakh in 2024, India has been opening up to China in a “graded” manner, keenly verifying every word of Beijing with its actions on ground.
Trump also plans a visit to China in April 2026, when the delicate bilateral ties would come into focus.
What is the role of the US Congressional body?
The United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), created by the US Congress in October 2000, monitors, investigates, and reports on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the US and China.
In the past decades, Washington has made significant economic and security investments in India as a means to counter China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.
India’s geographical location and military capabilities make it the bulwark of US efforts and policy to curb China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
