Indo-Pacific Business Forum held in US to counter increasing Chinese economic domination

Washington: The United States has initiated rapid movements to counter the use of financial strength by China to dominate the Indo-Pacific countries. This issue was highlighted in the Indo-Pacific Business Forum, organised in the United States. The United States is designing a comprehensive policy keeping the needs of the countries in that region, in terms of energy as well as other sectors in view. There is a strong possibility that the policy will be announced in this conference. Senior officials of the Trump administration have already indicated that this policy is of utmost importance to India, who will play a vital role in it.

Only few weeks ago, the United States established the Indo-Pacific Command. Ithad alleged that the sovereignty of countries in this region is threatened by the predatory Chinese economic policies. President Trump had objected to these economic policies almost nine months ago. The United States had targeted the Chinese predatory financing at the Shangri-La Security Conference held in Singapore. These Chinese policies of targeting the sovereignty of other countries using financial might, were also opposed by India. Without mentioning its name, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had said that these Chinese policies would prove to be dangerous.

US Secretary of Defence, James Mattis had welcomed Prime Minister Modi’s stand while criticising China. Thus, it was becoming apparent that the US would soon adopt a new Indo-Pacific economic policy. The outline of the policy will be presented in the Indo-Pacific Business Forum to be held on Monday, claimed the US media.

It has been informed that the said conference shall highlight the importance of this region, and that, the US intends to base its policies taking into account the specific needs of this region. In the next ten years, nations in the Indo-Pacific region are expected to contribute up to 50% of the global gross production, thus playing a major role in the global economy. Nisha Biswal, President of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), has claimed that an investment of $26 trillion would be necessary to realize the true potential of the nations in this region.

Biswal further claimed that this was the reason that investments from the American companies in this region, will prove to be tantamount. The US companies and investors will have detailed discussions on this issue in the “Indo-Pacific Business Forum”, clarified Biswal. It has been informed that US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo will be addressing this conference. Similarly, other senior US Secretaries will also be participating in this conference and an expansive discussion on the US policy regarding investments in the Indo-Pacific region is expected to commence at this time. In the meanwhile, when the increasing financial influence of China in this region is posing a major challenge to the United States, these attempts on the financial front made by the US, give a distinct indication .

The Trump administration has initiated a trade war by increasing taxes on goods imported into the US from China. This trade war is proving to have caused direct consequences on the Chinese economy and hence, China appears to be making preparations to retaliate at the US by increasing its financial cooperation with other countries in the world. Moreover, besides establishing military dominance in the Indo-Pacific region, China has also initiated huge investments in infrastructure projects in the countries of this region. These projects will prove to be important for China from the military and also strategic point of view. On this background, the United States seems to be making these preparations to challenge China at the financial level.