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'Same bed, different dreams': Irked China hits out US-India tech partnership

This is despite the US saying the iCET is "not about China"

India China Representation.

A day after India and the US signed iCET, a significant technological partnership, China has hit out against the pact, citing an age-old Chinese adage "same bed, different dreams." 

An article on Chinese state-backed Global Times used the Chinese proverb to mock the agreement between the two nations. "There is a Chinese adage "same bed, different dreams," which describes a relationship of a couple whose lives are intimately intertwined, but have different intents. This seems to be the perfect description of the ties between Washington and New Delhi," the article read. 

iCET, being billed as the 'Next Big Thing' in the India-US relationship, intends to elevate and expand the strategic technology partnership and defence industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses and academic institutions of the two countries. 

The article said India, through iCET, was aiming to introduce the advanced technology and attract funding from the US to accelarate its development, thereby replacing China's position in the global industrial and supply chains.

"As for Washington, to rope in India, on the one hand it has to cater to what the country wants, on the other hand it can promote an agenda that puts India as part of "friend-shoring," and then India can become a supply-chain alternative to China," Global Times quoted Liu Zongyi, secretary-general of the Research Center for China-South Asia Cooperation at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

Beijing's mouthpiece also quoted Liu, who claimed "Washington and New Delhi intend to see India get rid of its reliance on Russia for arms." 

It added that that the US was "eager to see India's dependence on Moscow for arms wane, so that it can tie New Delhi on its anti-Russia chariot."

"It remains highly questionable how much benefit or technology the US is willing to share with India, notably in fields such as high-tech and defense, as Washington is worried that India will develop into another threat by virtue of rapid development after China. Furthermore, many people in the Indian strategic circle still believe that the US is not trustworthy, which will also heavily reduce the effect of their cooperation," the piece said.

Global Times, which echoes the state's propaganda, said that while India continues to move closer to the US, it will not completely stand on the opposite side of China with the US. "China is a neighbor that India cannot move away from. In August, S. Jaishankar, India's minister of external affairs, underlined the term "Asian Century" and stressed the need for India and China to come together," it added.

It said that Washington's attempt to exploit New Delhi to contain Beijing and Russia is futile. "India is a country that pursues non-alignment and strategic autonomy. It is an illusion that India can completely follow the geostrategic path of the US toward China and Russia. As a result, Washington's attempt to exploit New Delhi to contain Beijing and Russia is heavily dwarfed," it said, adding that US actions towoo India indicate the country is stepping up its geopolitical competition with China and Russia but without an efficient approach.

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