NATO-like alliances not planned in Asia, says US defense chief

The US on Monday said it was not trying to establish a NATO-like alliance in the Indo-Pacific, a day after China warned against such alliances.

"We are absolutely not trying to establish a NATO in the Indo-Pacific," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a media briefing in New Delhi, where he also met with his Indian counterpart.

"We continue with like-minded countries to ensure that the region remains free and open so that commerce can prosper and ideas can continue to be exchanged," he said. "We share the same vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific with India."

China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Sunday told a security conference in Singapore attended by Austin: "Attempts to push for NATO-like (alliances) in the Asia-Pacific is a way of kidnapping regional countries and exaggerating conflicts and confrontations."

Li warned such alliances could "plunge the Asia-Pacific into a whirlpool of conflicts."

Last month, reports claimed NATO would open its first one-person liaison office in Asia, reportedly in Tokyo, Japan.

Earlier on Monday, the defense chiefs of India and the U.S. agreed to focus on collaborating in developing new technologies and production, according to an Indian Defense Ministry statement.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday held a bilateral meeting with Austin in New Delhi.

Calling the meeting "warm and cordial," the statement said the two sides discussed a substantial range of bilateral defense cooperation issues, focusing on identifying ways to strengthen industrial cooperation.

"Both sides will identify opportunities for co-development of new technologies and co-production of the existing and the new systems and facilitate increased collaboration between defense start-up ecosystems of the two countries," the ministry said, adding the two sides also concluded a roadmap for US-India defense industrial cooperation to guide the policy for the next few years.

?????MAINTAIN MOMENTUM OF ENGAGEMENT

In Monday's meeting, both sides reviewed robust and multifaceted bilateral defense cooperation activities and "agreed to maintain the momentum of engagement."

"They welcomed the inaugural dialogues held recently focusing on Defense Artificial Intelligence and Defense Space," the Defense Ministry said, adding that they also discussed regional security issues given their shared interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

After arriving in the Indian capital on Sunday, Austin said he was returning to India to meet with key leaders to discuss strengthening "our major defense partnership."

Austin on Monday told reporters he had "productive discussions" with his Indian counterpart.

"As the world's two largest democracies, India and the US uniquely preserve a rule-based international order that keeps us all secure. Since I last visited India in 2021, our global and strategic partnership has continued to grow rapidly," he said, touting the India-US partnership as the "cornerstone" of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

He added that they established a new roadmap for defense industrial cooperation, which will fast-track high-priority, co-development, and co-production projects.

Austin said the duo discussed ways to share information and find new initiatives for maritime cooperation and that the US government is putting its full weight behind India's defense modernization.

India is part of the US-led Quad, a security alliance with Australia and Japan to counter China's expanding economic, political, and military influence in the wider Asia-Pacific region.

The South Asian country is the world's largest arms importer and depends on Russia for nearly half of its arms supplies, despite the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.