New Delhi
9 September 2010
The US shared India's concerns about China's assertiveness and its presence
in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), according to the visiting US Pacific Command chief
Admiral Robert Willard. However, he maintained that the issue had to be tackled by the
Indian military on its own. He qualified it by saying that "any change in military relations
or military manoeuvres by China that raises concerns of India" could be considered as
certainly occurring within his area of responsibility.
Admiral Willard told a press conference here Thursday that he discussed with India's top
security leadership about the reports of Chinese military personnel being in PoK, though
not much information was exchanged on it. In his two-day visit here, he met national
security adviser Shivshankar Menon, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, Navy chief
Admiral Nirmal Verma, Army chief Gen VK Singh and defence secretary Pradeep Kumar
to discuss regional security and the growing military relationship between the two
countries.
Replying to a question about China's increasing assertiveness in South China Sea and
its implications, Admiral Willard said his purpose as Pacific Commander was to ensure
that "what we are seeing out of China or anyone else doesn't erupt into a conflict."
As Pacific Commander, the Admiral said, his first and foremost responsibility was to take
forward the US-China military-to-military relations. "We are anxious to do that. It is not
easy to do and its been suspended for some time. So we have a lot of work to do to
improve our relationship with the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA)," he said. "The
assertiveness that we have witnessed in the maritime regions around China has
complicated that fact but not eliminated it. We think it is a regional issue and many of the
US' allies and partners are concerned about. It was expressed well in ASEAN Regional
Forum," he noted.
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