China Committee Chairman meets Indian Envoy to US, hails India as ‘essential partner’

Indian envoy Vinay Kwatra met US House China Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, who hailed India as an “essential partner.” Talks covered security, Quad cooperation, trade, and countering Chinese influence in technology and manufacturing.

Washington: Indian Ambassador to the United States Vinay Kwatra met House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and discussed the significance of the India-US relationship.

According to a statement issued by the Select Committee on Thursday, the two spoke about regional security, manufacturing, trade, and efforts to “shift critical manufacturing from China to India.”

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Moolenaar termed India an “essential partner for global security” that has experienced the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “aggression first-hand.”

“India is the world’s largest democracy and an essential partner for global stability. It has experienced CCP aggression first-hand and is a major US security partner with an increasingly close defense industrial relationship that helps protect the American people,” he said.

Moolenaar also called New Delhi a global leader in “countering malign CCP-directed technology and social media companies.”

“It [India] recognizes that it cannot be a free and secure nation if it allows the CCP to manipulate and control information. Today’s meeting with Ambassador Kwatra reaffirmed the US-India strategic partnership, and I am hopeful our two countries will continue to build an even stronger friendship grounded in common values,” he added.

The Committee statement highlighted India’s banning of TikTok and other Chinese apps after clashes in the Galwan Valley between Indian and Chinese soldiers in 2020.

According to the readout, they also discussed the “security partnership of Quad” and efforts to “counter the Chinese Communist Party’s expansionist ambitions.”

The meeting comes days after Kwatra called on US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby, at the Pentagon.

“A productive conversation with the brilliant Elbridge Colby. Reviewed the current agenda and charted actionable path on several initiatives in the pipeline of India-US defence cooperation. Value his deep knowledge, perspective, and consistent support for our strategic partnership,” Kwatra wrote on X on Thursday.

Colby also posted about the meeting, calling it a “valuable discussion.”

“I was very pleased to host @AmbVMKwatra at the Pentagon earlier this week for a valuable discussion. We at the Department of Defense look forward to continuing to elevate our critical defense cooperation with India,” he wrote on X.