By Franz-Stefan Gady

January 27, 2015

"My colleague, Ankit Panda, did an excellent summary of the nine major takeaways from U.S. President Barack Obama's recent visit to India. He concludes that "this visit is a strong indicator that U.S.-India ties will follow a positive trajectory over the course of this year." He also notes that both countries are strategically converging, although the pace of that convergence has been sluggish due to the low priority assigned to India on the foreign policy agenda of the Obama White House and New Delhi's innate skepticism of U.S. intentions in the region.

Part of this innate skepticism stems from the fact that India suspects it will be used as the United States' shield to check Chinese ambitions and counterbalance Beijing's influence in the region. India is trying to counter China's influence in Asia by fostering closer ties with the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), especially in the field of naval cooperation, which adversely affects China's position in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea."

Read more:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/why-the-us-should-encourage-closer-sino-indian-ties/

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