China remains the “pacing challenge” for the Department of Defense, a Pentagon official said.
Washington:
The United States will continue to foster a stronger defence partnership with India, the Pentagon said on Friday.
“We very much appreciate our relationship with India on a defence level. We continue to foster a stronger defence partnership with India and that is something that I think you’ll continue to see us do going forward,” Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder told reporters at a news conference here.
In 1997, defence trade between India and the US was almost negligible, today it stands above USD 20 billion.
Responding to a question, Ryder said China remains the “pacing challenge” for the Department of Defense.
“We do appreciate the partnership that we have with India and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region when it comes to preserving individual nations’ sovereignty and abiding by the international rules-based order that has preserved peace and stability for many years,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by String Reveals staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
