WORLD NEWS | US needs to address India-Russia ties and declining democratic values: Senate report

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (PTI) A Democratic report says a Biden administration needs to address India-Russia ties and its “downward trend in democratic values ​​and institutions” as the U.S. focuses on the Indo-Pacific region, particularly the Quad Member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

The report called for support for a strong and democratic India.

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Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of Senate Foreign Affairs, said Thursday that the United States needs to approach the Indo-Pacific in a well-resourced, whole-of-government approach that synchronizes military security elements with diplomatic, economic and civil society elements to ensure maximum chance of degree success.

On Thursday, Menendez released a majority staff report, “Strategic Alignment: The Need for Resourcing the Indo-Pacific Strategy.”

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“I believe President Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy, released a year ago, takes this whole-of-government approach. If fully equipped with the tools needed to succeed, this strategy will reinforce American leadership in areas that matter most. A vibrant area,” he said.

Reports say that the Biden administration is correct not to pit its Indo-Pacific strategy solely against the People’s Republic of China. But to succeed, it must address the realities of this U.S. competition and the challenges it poses to its regional allies and partners, it said.

In its seventh and final recommendation, the key staff report called for support for a strong and democratic India.

“Even if the government rightly views India as an important security partner, it needs to address the very real complexities of India’s continued ties to and dependence on Russia for defense equipment and its recent decline in democratic values ​​and institutions ,”it says.

According to reports, the United States and China are vying for the status of India’s largest trading partner.

India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry reported in June 2022 that trade with the US surpassed that of China, the report noted, an important sign of growing ties between Washington and New Delhi

“Indeed, relations between the world’s two largest democracies have been on an upward trajectory for more than two decades, overcoming Cold War antagonism and division over India’s nuclear program and the country’s 1998 test of a nuclear device,” it said. explain.

Security ties have deepened dramatically in recent years as the two countries have grown increasingly concerned about more assertive Chinese influence, the report said.

“The United States and India are now major defense partners, and the two countries have launched a new critical and emerging technology initiative to enhance cooperation in quantum computing, 5G and 6G networks, space, semiconductors, biotechnology and artificial intelligence .”

The report is a follow-up to Chairman Menendez’s 2014 Democratic staff report, which emphasized the importance of increasing diplomatic and development resources in the region.

It comprehensively examines US diplomatic and development agencies’ investments in the Indo-Pacific region since 2014. It also makes a series of recommendations to improve the government’s ability to achieve IPS goals and strengthen U.S. national and economic security.

“Nine years, two administrations, and countless strategies since my last report have made little progress in advancing U.S. diplomatic and development efforts in the Indo-Pacific region, while China continues to “sovereignty, localized disinformation campaigns, and predatory economic investment,” Menendez said.

“If we are serious about advancing U.S. interests in Asia and competing with China, we must match ambitious policies with ambitious resource allocations,” he said.

The report recommends that a Biden administration must substantially increase funding for the U.S. government’s diplomatic and development agencies and devote a larger portion of the State Department’s operating budget and Washington’s foreign aid to advancing Indo-Pacific priorities.

It said Congress should be an active partner in ensuring the allocation of adequate resources to the Indo-Pacific region, providing new powers as needed, and effective oversight.

An Indo-Pacific strategy must include a substantive, action-oriented economic agenda that is commensurate with U.S. interests and responds to calls from our allies and partners for increased U.S. economic engagement, it said.

To deepen engagement with the U.S. network of allies and partners in the region, the U.S. and its partners must work to provide alternative financing and economic development projects to compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Digital Silk Road, the report said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)