Did US share military intelligence with India to thwart Chinese threat? White House responds

Hours after a US media report claimed that Washington provided crucial military intelligence to New Delhi last year to thwart the Chinese threat,the White House on Monday refused to confirm the news. Senior White House official John Kirby refuted the claims when answering the questions at a daily news conference.

"No, I can't confirm that," said Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House.

The source-based story filed by the US News and World Report claimed that the US government, for the first time, provided real-time insights to their Indian counterparts. The details helped India neutralise the incursion attempts by the PLA troops in Northeastern India's Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang Sector.

"India was able to repel a Chinese military incursion in contested border territory in the high Himalayas late last year due to unprecedented intelligence-sharing with the US military," read the report.

"US News has learned, an act that caught China’s People’s Liberation Army forces off-guard, enraged Beijing and appears to have forced the Chinese Communist Party to reconsider its approach to land grabs along its borders. The US government for the first time provided real-time details to its Indian counterparts of the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion,"it added.

The publication claimed that the US provided satellite imagery to India at a speed hitherto unseen. It added that US intelligence was partly the reason why the Chinese troops had to retreat after a subsequent clash.

The sharing of intelligence between the two nations marked a new era of cooperation as they looked to push back on Chinese expansionism, the source related to US News added.

Since 2020, the relationship between India and China has remained frosty. Though China has attempted to intrude into Indian territories for years, it was the Galwan valley standoff in 2020 that really deteriorated the relations.

Both countries held over 17 rounds of military talks but were unable to reach terms of disengagement. In 2021, India's Ministry f External Affairs (MEA), in its annual report stated that China's attempt to change the status quo had impacted the bilateral relationship.

(With inputs from agencies)

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