Cautioning India on the “increasing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean”, a senior US Admiral on Wednesday said that India and the U.S. were exchanging information on the movement of Chinese submarines in the region.
To deepen this cooperation, Chief Admiral Harry Harris of the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) called for early conclusion of the other two foundational agreements, especially the one on communications interoperability.
“We work closely with India and improving India’s capabilities to do that kind of surveillance… Chinese submarines are clearly an issue. They are operating in the region … There is sharing of information regarding Chinese maritime movement in the Indian Ocean,” Admiral Harris said on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue.The Chinese Navy has been active in the region and a Chinese nuclear submarine had docked at Karachi harbour last year. “I think the relationship between China and Pakistan is a matter of concern and I will certainly be discussing it with my Indian counterparts as India is also concerned about that,” he said. He said a prosperous China was not a bad thing in itself, but when that strength “turns into aggression” then “it’s a problem.”
After protracted negotiations, India and US concluded the logistics agreement Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Understanding (LEMOA) in August last year, which gives the two militaries access to each other’s facilities for rest and refuelling.
