Resisting Chinese Expansionism -- A New "Containment Policy?"

As China becomes more aggressively expansionist, the US and other Asian powers have begun to band together to limit its influence. A key element of this policy is fostering close relations with India. AFP reports:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Defense ministers of the United States and India have signed a 10-year agreement paving the way for joint weapons production, cooperation on missile defense and possible lifting of US export controls for sensitive military technologies.

"We are transforming our relationship to reflect our common principles and shared national interests," it said of the so-called "New framework for the US-India defense relationship" signed at the Pentagon.
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Washington's move to boost relations between the world's oldest and largest democracies which were on the opposite sides in the Cold War is seen by analysts as part of a strategy to counter the growing influence of China, India's immediate neighbour.

Read the whole thing here.

This network of partnerships with Asian and Pacific powers resembles nothing so much as the old Cold War "containment" alliances aimed at limiting the expansion of Soviet influence. As China seeks to break the resulting "encirclement" and expands its activities in the Middle East, in Africa and in Latin America, we are more and more beginning to see a new bipolar world emerge. Is this the beginning of a new "Cold War?"

Stay tuned....