Former US adviser Mary Kissel has said Washington cannot hope to counter Beijing’s growing influence in Asia-Pacific without the support of New Delhi. Her comments come in the wake of the recently concluded Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, photos from which are all over social media. The pictures show Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. He also held separate bilateral meetings with both leaders.
‘America needs India’
“If we are really serious about considering Communist China, the greatest threat to the United States in our way of life, we need India,” Kissel told Fox News.
She stressed, “It’s just a fact. We can’t fight them alone in Asia-Pacific.”
“We need the heft of not just Australia, not just our friends in Japan, but also India. So, I think this meeting is highlighting a major challenge for the Trump administration,” she went on to say.
They conspired against America
US President Donald Trump has ruled out the possibility of reducing tariffs on India, half of which he imposed after accusing New Delhi of profiteering from oil trade with Russia. He went so far as to describe trade with India as a “one-sided disaster”.
Just two hours back, Trump had accused Xi, Putin, and Kim Jong Un of “conspiring” against America.
‘We wouldn’t be intimidated by bullies’
President Xi has hit back, saying that the country would never be “intimidated by bullies”.
“The Chinese nation is a great nation that will never be intimidated by any bullies and always values independence and forges ahead,” Xi said before concluding the speech. “Today, humanity again has to choose between peace and war, dialogue and confrontation, win-win cooperation and zero-sum game. The Chinese people firmly stand on the right side of history.”