The Biden administration plans to advance its defence ties with India to enhance its ability to deter Chinese aggression and address grey zone coercion in areas such as disputed land borders, as per the US National Defense Strategy 2022 released on Thursday. This newly released document which was released by the US Defence Department is an unclassified defence strategy that nests beneath President Biden’s National Security Strategy, which was released earlier this month amid growing Chinese aggression.

The Department will advance our Major Defence Partnership with India to enhance its ability to deter PCR (People’s Republic of China) aggression and ensure free and open access to the Indian Ocean region,” the document read.It states that China presents the most consequential and systemic challenge, while Russia poses acute threats to vital US national interests abroad and to the homeland.The most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security is the PRC’s coercive and increasingly aggressive endeavour to refashion the Indo-Pacific region and the international system to suit its interests and authoritarian preferences, the document adds. Regarding the Indo-Pacific Region, it says The Department will also support Ally and partner efforts, in accordance with US policy and international law, to address acute forms of grey zone coercion from the PRC’s campaigns to establish control over the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, and disputed land borders such as with India.